RALEIGH — Campbell Law School will host an in-person program regarding the new NCAA rules governing student athletes at 4 p.m. on July 15 in room 105, Dean J. Rich Leonard announced Tuesday, July 6.
“Interpreting Chaos: The New NCAA Rules for Student Athletes” will feature two law school alumni who work in this complex area of the law — Gary Shipman ‘80 and Kevin Littlejohn ‘20. Shipman is a certified agent with the NFL, NBA and NCAA (basketball) and Littlejohn, an associate at Shipman and Wright LLP in Wilmington, who was a Division I college athlete and works within the firm’s full-service sports agency. Beginning in 2009, Shipman developed a full-service sports agency that represents coaches, athletic administrators, and professional football, basketball, and lacrosse players. The law firm and sports agency’s services include not only contract negotiations and marketing/branding, but “name, image and likeness” opportunities for current NCAA college athletes.
“I am excited to announce this program and for Campbell Law to be at the forefront of a discussion on this extremely hot legal topic,” Leonard said.
Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order on July 2 allowing college athletes to earn money off the use of their names, images and likenesses. Cooper’s order came a day after an NCAA rule change went into effect allowing athletes to profit from their fame without endangering their eligibility or putting their school in jeopardy of violating amateurism rules. “This order ensures that North Carolina has rules in place to let collegiate student-athletes earn compensation from their name, image and likeness,” Cooper said in the announcement. “Treating these athletes fairly and uniformly will help our state remain a competitive and desirable place to get educated and compete.”
Visiting Professor Susan Stevens Dunn, who joined Campbell Law in 2014, will moderate the discussion. If you would like to submit a question to Dunn prior to the event, email her at sdunn@campbell.edu.
Seating is limited and pre-registration is required. Sign up at this link: https://igfn.us/form/xM1fDQ
Bios
Gary Shipman knew from an early age that he belonged in a courtroom, and that’s where he has spent much of his time for the past 40 years. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Shipman attended Campbell University School of Law and then charged into practice at a Wilmington firm at the age of 24. Two years later, he founded his own firm. Since then, Shipman has traveled not just across North Carolina, but the nation, to argue and try cases that are often complex and highly consequential. With more than 100 jury verdicts behind him, Shipman has cultivated a strong courtroom presence and a national reputation as a dogged advocate. He is a Board Certified Civil Trial and Appellate Specialist; listed among the “Best Lawyers in America”; and the recipient of North Carolina Lawyer’s Weekly “Leaders in the Law” Award. He has handled an extremely wide variety of cases, including catastrophic personal injury, complex commercial litigation, professional negligence and regional and national class actions involving defective products and consumer fraud. He also spent 20 years channeling his passion for sports as a youth baseball coach. The father of three sons and three grandsons, Shipman makes time for his community as well. He is a former chairman of the New Hanover County Democratic Party, a former member of the UNC-Wilmington Board of Trustees and a current member of the Law School’s Board of Visitors.
Kevin L. Littlejohn II was born in New Bern and eventually settled in Greensboro, where he first began to develop a passion for advocacy. Littlejohn earned a scholarship to play football at the University of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. While in college, he was initiated into Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. where he served as the president of his chapter. He graduated with honors, and secured yet another scholarship to attend Campbell Law, where he excelled and distinguished himself as one of the best advocates in the nation. Littlejohn’s work ethic continued to shine while competing in and winning multiple National Mock Trial Championships, where he argued cases from both the perspective of the plaintiff and defense. In 2020, he was selected as one of the top 16 trial advocates in the nation and he proved himself to be a multifaceted advocate when he finished as a regional finalist in the American Bar Association’s contract negotiation competition. Littlejohn continues to satisfy his passion for sports by working with the Shipman & Wright Sports Agency where he is learning to effectively and ethically represent the interest of amateur and professional athletes.
Susan Stevens Dunn teaches Sales and Leases and Contract Planning. Prior to joining Campbell, Dunn taught for six years at the North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, where her courses included Sales and Secured Transactions, International Business Transactions, Real Estate Finance and Antitrust and Competition Law. A member of the State Bars of Texas (inactive), Massachusetts (inactive) and North Carolina (active), Dunn has more than 30 years’ practice experience in the private sector, including work as an associate attorney in civil law firms in Fort Worth, Texas and in Boston, Massachusetts; subsequently, 17 years as head of litigation for U.S. subsidiaries of two global pharmaceutical companies based in Research Triangle Park. Her principal substantive areas of practice included litigation and complex litigation involving commercial, antitrust and intellectual property disputes as well as pharmaceutical products liability.
ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW
Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. Among its accolades, the school has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation’s top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 4,400 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2021, Campbell Law is celebrating 45 years of graduating legal leaders and 12 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina’s Capital City.
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