ChatGPT Lawyer Exposed, NBA Ref Burner Investigation, & Sports Trademarks (MIA Heat & WAS Commanders)

Welcome to THE Sports Law Podcast! We keep you informed on everything at the intersection of sports and the law. Dan Lust (@SportsLawLust⁠) is joined by Stephanie Weissenburger (@SWeissenburger_) and Zach Bryson (@ZacharySBryson), with the three diving into Trademark developments involving Jimmy Butler and the Washington Commanders, NBA referee Eric Lewis alleged Twitter "burner account," and the first attorney to be caught using Chat GPT to produce a brief submitted in federal court.

Starting off with Trademark filings, the team dives into recent filings by both Jimmy Butler and the Washington Commanders (7:19). Maimi Heat star and Conference MVP Jimmy Butler has recently filed a trademark application for "HIMMY BUCKETS," under which he plans to sell coffee cups, tea cups, and mugs, as well as a potential second mark, "Jimmy's Secret Stuff" which appears to be for apparel. In addition to the recent filings made by Jimmy Butler, the Washington Commanders were issued a non-final office action disclosing two potential issues with the registration of the new team name (10:53). The action cites both the "Commander's Classic," an annual college football game between Army and Navy and two names filed by Martin McCaulay, a DC area man who made the news by trying to "guess" the name the franchise would choose before they settled on the Commanders.

The NBA has opened an investigation into seasoned referee Eric Lewis, who allegedly violated the NBA's policy of a social media "cone of silence" for officials (24:13). It has been alleged that Lewis was operating a "burner" twitter account where he would respond to people's criticisms of himself and other NBA officials, which is in violation of the NBA's policy limiting officials public comments to only those approved and sanctioned by the league.

The legal world is buzzing as the first attorney will face sanctions for using Chat GPT to write a brief that was submitted in federal court (30:38). The brief in question was flagged by the opposing counsel, who discovered that 8 of the cases cited in the brief were not real cases and were completely fictitious, including false in-text citations to other, also fictitious case law.

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Hosts: Dan Lust (⁠@SportsLawLust⁠⁠)

Producer: Zach Bryson (⁠@ZacharySBryson⁠)

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