© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
(April 4) – Lawyers boast about the view from their office windows, but none can match the scene from Kate Cassidy’s desk: home plate at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
As corporate in-house counsel for the Texas Rangers, Cassidy loves this time of the year.
“Its opening day – my favorite day of the year, because it’s a time when anything is possible,” she said. “It’s my favorite time of the year. It’s a great time to be at the ballpark and there’s eternal optimism.”
This is also the busiest time of the year for Cassidy, who is the lone corporate lawyer for the Rangers organization.
During the past few weeks, she has handled contracts for beer vendors, fireworks technicians and companies leasing the suites. She negotiated regional television and radio broadcast rights, reviewed deals involving promotional activities and sponsorships, worked on $200 million real estate transactions and led efforts to protect the Rangers’ intellectual property.
“My job is very similar to lawyers who work in just about any corporate legal department, except that I truly love our product,” she said.
During the past year, Cassidy engineered the legal issues that paved the way for the creation of the “50/50 Raffle,” a contest that allows the professional sports teams in Texas to conduct a raffle during sporting events as long as half of the money goes to youth charities.
“Kate was the driving force behind this extraordinary charity,” said Robert Hart, who is general counsel for Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks. “Kate convinced me and convinced the Cowboys and other sports teams to get behind this and it only happened because of her efforts.”
Cassidy said the key was convincing the Texas Legislature to change the state’s constitution to allow the raffle to be exempted from state gaming prohibitions.
“Only two percent of my job is dealing with player contracts because the terms are mostly dictated by the league’s agreement with the Major League Players Association,” she said.
The big exception, she said, is when players signing new contracts are involved in activities that fall under high risk zones, such as hunting, skydiving, caving or dirt bike riding. For those, the terms have to be specifically spelled out.”
“Kate is incredibly intelligent and has to be knowledgeable in so may different areas of law,” said Andrews Kurth partner Marc Katz, who has worked with Cassidy on various employment law matters. “She has to work with a lot of high egos, but she always looks for productive ways to resolve disputes.”
Baseball is in Cassidy’s DNA. Her father was a catcher in the Minnesota Twins farm system. As a young girl growing up in Coppell, she and her dad attended Rangers games at the old Arlington Stadium several times a year.
Cassidy’s favorite memory came in 1994 when she was 16.
“We were sitting in the centerfield bleachers and watched Kenny Rogers throw his perfect game,” she said.
Cassidy decided that she wanted to be a sports lawyer while she was a student at the SMU Dedman School of Law after hearing Hart, a fellow SMU Dedman alum, speak.
“I decided then, that’s what I want to do,” she said.
Hart said he has never witnessed someone who was more devoted or aggressive in pursuit of a specific job.
“Kate called and called and called seeking an internship,” Hart said. “I always tell people to look at Kate’s efforts in knowing the kind of job they want and going after it.”
There were no lawyer jobs available at any of the Texas sports teams when Cassidy graduated in 2004. She took a job as an associate at Baker Botts.
A year later, the Texas Rangers called.
Cassidy’s office in centerfield is littered with baseball memorabilia. There’s her photo with Nolan Ryan giving her a championship ring when the Rangers won the American League Championship Series in 2011. She has the infamous photo of Ryan punching Robin Ventura, which the Hall of Famer personally signed to her.
Then there’s one of her favorites: the official scorecard from Aug. 22, 2007, which is the Rangers’ 30—3 whooping of the Baltimore Orioles.
As much as Cassidy loves baseball, she thrives on the legal work that comes with the business.
“The TV contract with Fox took a lot of time and work because it is where a majority of our revenues come from,” she said. “We are as much a media company as we are a sports company.”
Cassidy is also spearheading the $200 million mixed use real estate project being developed between the Rangers’ ballpark and Cowboys Stadium.
“Kate has truly grown in her position during her 10 years with the Rangers,” said Paul Wageman, a sports law expert at the Winstead law firm in Dallas. “She is an excellent lawyer, but she also has been a crucial business leader with the Rangers. Her passion for the law and baseball has made Kate an integral part of the Rangers operations.”
Wageman and Katz said they would not be surprised to see Cassidy become a leading voice in Major League Baseball.
“Baseball has said it needs more women in high-profile roles and I believe Kate will be one of those leaders,” Katz said.
A mother of three, Cassidy said she brings her family to the ballpark for about 25 games a year.
“We sit all over the park, but my favorite seats are the front row in the club level where I can put my feet up,” she said. “I look forward to seeing you there.”
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