Last month, the Vanderbilt Law School Entertainment and Sports Law Society Initiative hosted Adolpho Burch ‘91. Burch, who currently serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief External and League Affairs Officer for the Tennessee Titans, detailed his career and shared advice for those aspiring to work in sports and entertainment law.
The Nashville native attended Father Ryan High School before earning his undergraduate degree from Harvard. Burch said he always knew that he wanted to go to law school, but the idea was to get involved with local politics, so he returned to his hometown to get his law degree at Vanderbilt.
However, upon graduating, Burch’s father convinced him that he should spend time practicing law, so Burch obtained a clerkship with Judge Thomas A. Wiseman of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. After his clerkship, Burch practiced law for Fulbright & Jaworski—now Norton Rose Fulbright —in Houston, Texas. He worked on antitrust and complex litigation by day and in their public law section by night. He eventually moved to a boutique firm and found himself working on a variety of matters—some of which involved working alongside leadership of the then-Houston Oilers.
When the Oilers moved to Nashville, Burch volunteered for his firm’s transition team surrounding the move but was not offered a spot. Shortly after, he ended up receiving a call from the National Football League, who offered him a job working on the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“It was by utter and complete accident that the things they were looking for were the things I knew how to do,” Burch remarked.
For 23 years, Burch served as an advisor to NFL Commissioners Paul Tagliabue and Roger Goodell. He would finish his time at the NFL as the Senior Vice President of Labor Policy and League Affairs. In 2020, he stepped into his current role with the Tennessee Titans, where he works in a variety of areas, including relationship development with Nashville, Tennessee, and the NFL, the new East Bank stadium, and more.
Burch took questions from attendees and offered advice for those aspiring to a career in sports. He recommended that those seeking to work in sports find a firm that will teach them the underlying legal skills that will aid in their success. To stand out in a competitive job market, he urged students to differentiate themselves by getting involved with local councils and sports organizations.