UB Law Alumni Profile – A Look at Paul Iya’s Path to Agency

Paul Iya is a 2013 graduate from the University at Buffalo School of Law and is currently a certified NFLPA agent working as the Director of Legal Affairs at Generation Sports Group.

Agency is the dream for some who intend to pursue a career in sports law. Paul Iya is currently living that dream, so I sat down with him to find out a little about how he broke into the industry and what his work entails.

How It All Started

Paul expressed a deep passion for sports ever since he was young. Sports played a large part in both his and his siblings’ lives growing up, so it was almost inevitable to be drawn to it. Combat sports drew him in early in life, but he had to try a few different disciplines until he found the right fit.

Paul started with martial arts, being enrolled in Tae Kwon Do when he was very young. He practiced Tae Kwon Do for a while, until it wasn’t what he was looking for anymore. He said, “It was like it was more art than martial, for me.” In search of something more combative, Paul turned to Sanshou. It was a step in the right direction, but it went too far. Paul described it as the opposite, “that was more martial than art.” He wanted to find the sweet spot that was a happy-medium between martial and art.

Paul found this sweet spot in a sport that is not even a martial art, boxing. He explained how striking and fighting in boxing was so much different than other combat sports, but he loved it. He stuck with boxing through college and even into law school, with his last win coming at the Buffalo Golden Gloves event during his 2L year.

Paul’s collegiate boxing experience is pertinent to his career as an agent for a few reasons, but most notably, that is how he started representing athletes. He said that his interest in sports law while he was a student and his experience as a boxer “naturally led to [him] getting licensed with the New York State Athletic Commission” to represent boxers. It was also his interest in sports law that connected Paul with UB Law School classmate Shane Costa.

Work in the Law

Although he found time to work within the boxing community, Paul worked primarily in white collar crimes before moving to Generation Sports Group. He described how this work played a part in helping him achieve and continue working within his current role.

Paul started legal work under his self-described mentor at Personius Melber, a white collar and general criminal defense firm in Buffalo. He clerked for Personius Melber in law school and started as an associate there after he graduated. Paul honed his general lawyer skills while working there, which are important when working in any legal field, sports law included. These skills are invaluable, because good lawyer skills can open more doors for you, as Paul said it did for him.

After working at Personius Melber, Paul moved to AML RightSource, a consulting firm that assists companies with compliance regarding financial crimes. This experience honed Paul’s consulting and business acumen. These are both necessary when advising athletes on decisions that need to be made. He did note that, “the NFL is a unique beast and being immersed in it is the only way to really understand its unique aspects.” However, being able to convey legal concerns to those who do not have legal training is a skill that must be developed to adequately advocate for young athletes.

While working in the white-collar crime field, Paul’s former classmate and friend, Shane Costa, was working as an agent at Generation Sports Group. He reached out to Paul on several occasions for assistance. He began advising Generation Sports without an agency license, but Shane pushed for him to get his license so that he could join Generation Sports’ team. That is how Paul started in his current role as an agent and as Director of Legal affairs at Generation Sports.

What Can One Expect from Working in Agency?

Movies and TV shows, like Jerry Maguire and Ballers, romanticize agency and what goes into it. Paul iterated that the work is not so much “the sexy stuff” that pop culture tends to romanticize. He compared it to recommending a friend get a puppy. Paul loves the work and what he does, but much like a puppy, it has its downsides.

“You have to clean up after a puppy and take it on a walk if it wants to go out at 3 AM, but you still love having it. You just need to be aware of what it takes. The same goes for being an agent,” Paul said. So, what does it take? Paul touched on this, as well as what should be points of emphasis for those who decide they want to pursue a career in agency.

To succeed as an agent, one must have a working knowledge of certain aspects of law. Paul describes them “contracts, contracts, contracts.” This encompasses having an intimate relationship with the Collective Bargaining Agreement, contracts, and industry jargon that allows for effective communication. However, a knowledge of these is insufficient to provide adequate representation. Agents must have people skills, because they need to build relationships in which they trust their clients and their clients trust them. Further, Paul explains that their people skills must include the ability to “boil down complex legal issues to 19-year-olds. You went to school, so they don’t have to.”

Paul says that his work can be a little full, but there may still be time for other work, if need be. A lot of the work is seasonal, which helps ease the load at some points and packs it on at others. Additionally, the job is not a standard nine-to-five. Clients might call at night after workouts or after flights, and agents must be prepared to take care of what needs to be done then. Paul said that this can sometimes make things easier to deal with, as you are not confined to business hours, but can sometimes make things harder, as you never know when you will have to be ready to go.

All-in-all, Paul said that he loves his work. “At Generation Sports you have to love the game and the business, but a big part of what you need to love is helping the next generation of kids succeed,” said Paul. Paul’s path to agency is an excellent illustration of how there are many ways to break into the field of sports law. Whichever path might be the right one, Paul is a great role model to follow. Developing the right skills and finding the right experiences that will make you the best lawyer you can be is a great place to start, and Paul is an exceptional example of that. I would highly recommend attending any event with which Paul is involved. He is a remarkable alumni of UB Law within the sports community, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing from him.

[Photo] Generation Sports Group