House v. NCAA: Shaping the Future of Student-Athlete Rights

Christopher M. Brolley | Troutman Pepper Locke

Chris’ diverse practice includes the representation of pharmaceutical, medical device, agricultural, and manufacturing companies involving mass tort, personal injury, and wrongful death claims. With experience in federal and state courts across the U.S. — including Philadelphia County’s Mass Tort Program — Chris is also involved in disputes arising out of breach of contract and corporate governance.

Chris advises higher educational institutions of all sizes, including colleges and universities, on Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) compliance issues. He provides comprehensive guidance on permissible and impermissible NIL activities and navigating state NIL laws, NCAA Bylaws, and other NCAA policies. Chris creates and implements tailored strategies for mitigating the potential risk of NCAA and state attorney general enforcement activity. He co hosts the firm’s “Highway to NIL” podcast that discusses the legal landscape and developments in NIL law.

Chris maintains active pro bono practice. He represents veterans seeking benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs in connection with their appeals before The Board of Veterans’ Appeals, working closely with the National Veterans Legal Services Program. Chris also represents clients involved with the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP).

While in law school, Chris served as a judicial extern for the Hon. Mark A. Kearney in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Chris is an active member of the American Bar Association and Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania.

Callan G. Stein | Troutman Pepper Locke

Cal is an experienced trial attorney who represents clients in complex civil, white-collar criminal, and RICO litigation matters and state and federal government investigations. As a seasoned trial attorney, he has served for years as a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and the firm’s trial advocacy program for associates.

With a background as a trial attorney in both civil and criminal matters, Cal is uniquely positioned to handle litigation involving the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). He has extensive experience defending businesses and individuals across a broad spectrum of industries who have been accused of either civil or criminal RICO violations. Cal has successfully tried and arbitrated RICO cases that alleged all manners of racketeering activity, including mail fraud, fraud wire, money laundering, embezzlement, homicide, and violations of federal statutes such as the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act and the Controlled Substances Act. Cal hosts the “RICO Report,” a podcast series devoted entirely to the RICO statute.

Cal also handles a wide range of commercial litigation, including fraud, breach of contract, and business tort cases. He frequently litigates these types of cases for clients who operate in highly regulated industries, including hospitals, clinical laboratories, and other health care providers, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, insurance providers, and institutes of higher education and academic medical centers. These cases often take the form of breach of contract litigation (e.g., provider agreements), whistleblower/qui tam lawsuits (alleging violations of the False Claims Act), or civil RICO cases. Cal is also experienced representing doctors and other health care providers in disputes involving medical staff bylaws, peer review and physician discipline hearings, utilization review management issues, and fraud research.

In his white-collar criminal practice, Cal defends businesses and individuals facing government investigations conducted by state and federal prosecutors and administrative agencies. In the health care and life sciences industries, he regularly represents physicians, physician practices and other providers, hospitals, CLIA laboratories, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, pharmacists and pharmacies (including compounding pharmacies), and pharmaceutical and medical device companies facing government investigations or enforcement actions involving the False Claims Act (FCA), the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law, other health care fraud and abuse laws, the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), drug diversion laws, public nuisance claims, and unfair and deceptive marketing suits.

Cal also handles FCA and fraud cases involving other industry sectors, including in connection with Covid-19 programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) operated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). In 2024, Cal won summary judgment for a client accused of PPP fraud in the first PPP fraud qui tam case to reach the dispositive motion stage in the U.S.

Cal proactively works with clients to help mitigate potential compliance issues and government actions. He develops and implements risk mitigation strategies such as enforcing, updating, and enhancing corporate compliance programs, and regularly conducts internal investigations of complaints and other internal issues to prevent them from ripening into government investigations or whistleblower lawsuits. Drawing from an in-depth knowledge of the methods used by prosecutors and regulators, Cal investigates allegations and advises clients on possible remediation strategies for even the most complex and sensitive issues.

Cal also frequently represents and advises higher education clients, particularly in areas related to collegiate athletics and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights and compliance. Cal provides NIL compliance advice and internal investigation services to major universities, including those that participate in Division I football and basketball, and likewise advises schools on athletics contracts, conference affiliations, conference realignment, and other NCAA related issues. Cal also represents and advises businesses on NIL contracts, as well as NIL collectives on formation and compliance matters. Cal hosts the firm’s “Highway to NIL” podcast that discusses the legal landscape and developments in NIL law.

Michael S. Lowe | Troutman Pepper Locke

Michael brings unique insights and practical guidance from nearly 25 years as a federal prosecutor to his representation of pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and other clients in products liability and class action litigation, federal criminal and civil governmental investigations and actions (including SEC, DOJ, FTC, and other agency investigations), state attorneys general investigations and actions, and civil False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuits. He regularly handles matters in state and federal courts throughout the U.S., and his experience includes a particularly long trial-to-verdict record in Los Angeles and Philadelphia courts.

Michael’s diverse litigation experience includes defending clients in cases involving medical device products liability, the FCA and its state analogs, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), unfair and deceptive trade practices and false advertising, consumer class action matters, and securities fraud. He handles cases in a variety of sectors, including health care, cryptocurrency, and financial services.

Michael is particularly well suited to handle all aspects of sensitive internal investigations for clients, having spent the last 12 years of his 25-year career as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania — first as assistant U.S. attorney, then as senior investigation counsel in the Economic Crimes Section. He draws on this background to handle complex fraud cases from the inception of the investigation through trial; conduct internal investigations for companies in response to whistleblower and kickback allegations, and other corporate misconduct; and deal with DOJ, the SEC, and state and other federal agencies in connection with responses to grand jury subpoenas and civil investigative demands (CIDs).

During his 25 years as a federal prosecutor, Michael developed deep experience investigating and prosecuting various types of fraud, including securities, crypto, Covid, and PPP fraud. He regularly interfaced with the FBI, SEC, HUD, HHS OIG, IRS CID, Homeland Security, and the DOJ Tax Division, as well as DOJ Civil Division attorneys conducting concurrent civil investigations. Michael also provided guidance and strategic advice to federal prosecutors investigating complex frauds in his role as senior investigation counsel.

Michael’s experience as both a civil litigator and former federal prosecutor includes both civil and criminal RICO. His tenure as a federal prosecutor began in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, where he spent more than 13 years. During that time he was lead prosecutor on the largest gang prosecution in U.S. history, personally prosecuted more than 100 individuals charged with RICO violations, and played an integral role in multiple capital murder prosecutions.

Michael regularly taught trial advocacy to fellow prosecutors and wrote the book on federal wiretaps, authoring the chapter on wiretaps for the most recent edition of the Federal Narcotics Prosecution Manual published by the U.S. Department of Justice. This publication is relied upon by all federal prosecutors engaged in narcotics prosecutions in the U.S.

Michael is experienced in the NIL and higher education space. He currently represents an NCAA Division I athletic conference in connection with the settlement of the House antitrust litigation, as well as NIL issues and conference policies and procedures. He also has provided advice to an NCAA Division I university in connection with NIL and has experience with investigations of potential NIL violations. In addition to representing clients in this area, Michael frequently writes, speaks, and presents cutting-edge NIL issues.

I. Background of House v. NCAA | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

II. Impact of settlement on college athletics | 2:10pm – 2:45pm

III. Remaining legal issues (antitrust, Title IX, employment status) even after settlement approval | 2:45pm – 3:10pm