NOVEMBER 20, 2009 – LOS ANGELES – Arent Fox LLP is pleased to announce that Maidie Oliveau, counsel in the firm's Los Angeles office, has been appointed Vice Chair of the Sports Division of the Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries of the American Bar Association.

Ms. Oliveau is a highly respected, well-known sports attorney, having represented sponsors, event organizers, television broadcasters, sports associations and other rights holders, as well as sports event purchasers, for more than 20 years. She has also represented professional tennis, basketball and other athletes.

Ms. Oliveau joined Arent Fox in July, adding a significant West Coast presence to the firm’s national sports practice. Arent Fox’s sports law practice is highly experienced, serving as counsel on a variety of matters to various professional teams, including the National Basketball Association’s Washington Wizards, Charlotte Bobcats, Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City Thunder and New Jersey Nets; Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers; and the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League; Major Soccer League’s DC United; Women’s National Basketball Association’s Washington Mystics. The firm’s sports practice has also involved providing counsel to acquirers of sports franchises, to NHL Enterprises, the US Olympic Committee, Fox Sports Net, the Tennis Channel, and CineSport, as well as to sponsors of sports events and venues, such as Cisco Systems and MasterCard International.

About Maidie E. Oliveau

Ms. Oliveau has worked on a number of major sports-related transactions, including: (i) naming rights agreement for AT&T Park (formerly SBC Park and Pacific Bell Park) in San Francisco; (ii) the Detroit Pistons’ grant of telecast rights to Fox Sports Net Detroit, the local regional sports network; (iii) the Tennis Channel agreement with the French Tennis Federation for the rights to telecast the Roland-Garros Grand Slam tournament; (iv) AstraZeneca’s CRESTOR brand sponsorship of the PGA Tour; (v) Fox’s acquisition of the Los Angeles Dodgers; and (vi) Sugar Bowl's title sponsorship deal with Allstate (and previously with Nokia and USF&G).

In 1990 Ms. Oliveau established LawSports, a boutique firm in Los Angeles. Prior to founding LawSports, Ms. Oliveau was senior vice president and general counsel to DelWilber + Associates (DWA), where she administered more than $50 million in sponsorship contract commitments and handled the general legal affairs of DWA. She came to DWA from the Women’s International Professional Tennis Council (now the WTA Tour). Prior to that, she was part of the team that organized the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984.

Since May 1997, Ms. Oliveau has served as an arbitrator for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), whose jurisdiction has been adopted by all the sports on the summer and winter Olympic programs as final and enforceable. In addition, Ms. Oliveau is on the panel of American Arbitration Association (AAA) and London Court of International Arbitration arbitrators and has acted as an arbitrator in AAA cases brought under the US Anti-Doping Agency protocol and the US Olympic Committee Code of Conduct. She also serves as an advisory trustee on the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, as well as sits on the boards of advisors of the National Sports Law Institute, the Loyola Sports Law Institute and the Georgetown Entertainment and Media Alliance.

She is a frequent contributor to conferences and publications in the business of sports and entertainment, including the American Bar Association Entertainment & Sports Forum, the Sports Lawyers Association, IEG’s sponsorship conference and the Beverly Hills Bar Association’s speaking series. She serves on the editorial board of the ABA's Entertainment & Sports Lawyer.

Ms. Oliveau earned her JD degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

About the Arent Fox Sports Law Practice

Arent Fox attorneys have been involved in some of the most significant sports transactions in recent history, including: representing Brooklyn Arena, LLC and the NJ Nets in connection with the Barclays Center naming rights transaction, the largest arena naming rights and team sponsorship transaction in the history of sports and entertainment; representing the Charlotte Bobcats in connection with the Time Warner Cable Center naming rights and team sponsorship transaction and the related media rights agreement with Fox Sports; representing Pacific Bell in connection with the negotiation of the naming rights agreement for Pac Bell Park (renamed to AT&T Park); representing the current owners of the Tampa Bay Rays in connection with their acquisition of a controlling interest in this MLB franchise; representing Fox Broadcasting in connection with its acquisition of the Los Angeles Dodgers MLB franchise.

Arent Fox also has extensive experience in the acquisition and development of sports facilities, including the Verizon Center – the downtown DC sports arena that is home to the Washington Wizards, the Washington Mystics, the Washington Capitals and the Georgetown Hoyas. Arent Fox was also involved in the development and construction of several other professional sports facilities, including: Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles), M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore Ravens), PETCO Park (San Diego Padres) and Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers).

Arent Fox’s sports law practice also encompasses providing legal counsel on labor and employment issues (including players’ and coaches’ contracts, and salary caps issues) for professional sports teams.