Overview

Cari Grieb is a partner in the Banking and Financial Services Department of Chapman and Cutler LLP. She joined the firm in 2010.

Cari has represented a range of clients in large cap and middle market spaces in connection with senior, first lien/second lien, silent second lien, subordinated, and mezzanine financings; credit facilities; joint ventures; stock and asset acquisitions; leveraged buy-out transactions; and restructurings. She primarily focuses her practice on acquisition financing, sponsor finance, commercial lending, cross-border lending, franchisee financings and leveraged finance in the middle market, with deal sizes ranging from $10 million to $500 million. 

Her transactions span a number of industries, including sports, health care (service providers, device manufacturers, pharmaceutical services, health care IT, and clinical services), accounting, industrials, agriculture, food and consumer manufacturers and retailers, consulting and business services, education, technology, and insurance.

Cari also has experience representing both professional teams and banks in stadium finance transactions and other sports law matters in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, Minor League Baseball, the National Football League, and the National Premier Soccer League.

Prior to joining Chapman and Cutler, Cari served as a finance associate at the law firm of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP from 2006–2010. She also clerked for the Honorable Suzanne B. Conlon of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 

Cari is currently an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University’s Masters in Sports Administration Program and a Lecturer in Law at Duke University School of Law. She formerly taught sports law at The John Marshall Law School.

Since March 2014, Cari has been a sports law contributor for the Sporting News. She is also the co-author of the forthcoming book Sports and the Law (Oxford University Press) with Paul Haagen and J. Gordon Hylton. Her written work has also been featured in various sports law periodicals. Many of her publications have focused on morals clauses and racial and gender-related sports law topics such as racial and gender inequality in sports, Title IX, and domestic violence policies in professional sports. 

Cari has also been interviewed with respect to legal aspects of various sports controversies, and has been quoted in the LA Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Bloomberg Law, Forbes Magazine, Sporting News, LawNewz, Time Magazine and the Lexington Herald-Leader, and appeared on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, NBC News, Fox News Chicago, CBS Radio, Fox News Radio, 740 The Game, and West Virginia MetroNews – Sportsline.

Cari is a frequent participant and lecturer at both sports law symposiums and law schools nationwide. She has spoken at Duke University School of Law, the University of Virginia School of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, Northwestern University’s Sports Administration Program, Fordham University School of Law, Florida University Levin College of Law, Miami University School of Law, DePaul University School of Law, The John Marshall Law School, and Valparaiso University Law School. She has given presentations for the Chicago Bar Association Sports Law Committee, American Bar Association Sports Law Committee and the Association for Conflict Resolution, Chicago Chapter.

Since 2013, she has been the Chair of the Chicago Bar Association Sports Law Committee.

She is also a member of the Sports Lawyers Association and Duke University School of Law's Chicago Alumni Committee, as well as a former board member of the Good Sports Young Professionals Board, an organization that provides sports equipment, apparel, and footwear to children most in need.

Cari is on the Duke Law Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Teaching

  • Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University’s Masters in Sports Administration Program

  • Adjunct Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law

Memberships

Sports Lawyers Association

American Bar Association, Forum Committee on Entertainment and Sports Industries

Chicago Bar Association

  • Chair, Sports Law Committee

Duke Law Alumni Association

  • Board of Directors

Good Sports

  • Young Professionals Board

Honors & Awards

  • Recipient of the Commercial Finance Association (now Secured Finance Network) 2018 40 under 40 Award

Admitted

Illinois

Education

Duke University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 2006

  • Articles Editor, Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law

Cornell University, B.S., Industrial and Labor Relations, Valedictorian, with honors, 2003

Clerkships

Hon. Suzanne B. Conlon, US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2010

Insights

Publications

Books
  • Paul Haagen, Joseph Gordon Hylton, and Cari Grieb, Sports and the Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press (forthcoming).
Articles
  • Click here to access Cari's articles in Sporting News. 
  • Author, "For Lenders – Navigating Main Street Loan Considerations," Client Alert. July 7, 2020.
  • Author, "Lender Considerations with Respect to Existing Middle Market Credit Facilities in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Client Alert. March 27, 2020.
  • Quoted, "Player Protests Are about Labor Law, Not the First Amendment," ABA Journal. August 3, 2018. 
  • Quoted, “Low MLB Signings Have Players Crying Foul, Owners Hitting Back,” Bloomberg Law. February 16, 2018.
  • Author, "Senior Lender Considerations in Respect of Representation and Warranty Insurance in Middle Market Private Equity Transactions," The Banking Law Journal. February 2018.
  • Quoted, “Sports law professor tries to answer mounting questions about basketball recruiting scandal,” Lexington Herald-Leader. October 2, 2017.
  • Quoted, “Claiming NFL collusion against Colin Kaepernick is one thing, but proving it is another,” Sporting News. August 10, 2017.
  • Quoted, “Jeurys Familia Presents An Interesting Case Under Baseball’s New Domestic Violence Policy,” Forbes. January 12, 2017.
  • Quoted, "Why latest Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno allegations may not matter, legally speaking,” Sporting News. May 7, 2016.
  • Quoted, “Peyton Manning strategically makes once-hot HGH story go ice-cold,” Sporting News. May 26, 2016.
  • Quoted, "Why latest Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno allegations may not matter, legally speaking,” Sporting News. May 7, 2016.
  • Quoted, "Troubled Football Star Johnny Manziel will Likely Play Again," LawNewz. February 5, 2016.
  • Quoted, “100+ Sports Business Professionals Discuss Hot Topics, Bold Predictions For 2016,” Forbes. January 5, 2016.
  • Quoted, “Investigate Peyton Manning Report,” Sporting News. December 28, 2015.
  • Quoted, “Colts wading into dangerous waters with Richardson suspension,” Sporting News. February 23, 2015.
  • Co-Author, "Fundamentals of Middle-Market Acquisition Financing," The Banking Law Journal. February 2015. 
  • Quoted, “Sterling Trial Takes a Break in the Action,” Los Angeles Daily News. July 12, 2014.
  • Quoted, “Donald Sterling Agrees to Sell Los Angeles Clippers, Drop NBA Lawsuit," Los Angeles Daily News. June 4, 2014.
  • Quoted, “Amid 2 Billion Clippers Deal Donald Sterling Sues NBA,” Los Angeles Daily News. May 30, 2014.
  • Quoted, “Should NBA Constitution Prevent Forced Sale Of Donald Sterling's Los Angeles Clippers?” Forbes. April 30, 2014.
  • Quoted, “Attorney Says Forced Sale of Clippers Could Prompt Antitrust Lawsuit,” LA Times. April 29, 2014.
  • Quoted, “Sterling Ban Shows Power of NBA Players,” Time. April 29, 2014.
  • "In A-Rod We (Don't) Trust," Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. February 2014. 
  • "Rick Pitino and the 'Cardinal' Morals Clause," Fordham Sports Law Journal. May 2013.
  • Quoted, "College Conference Shuffle Hits the Courts," Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. March 26, 2013.
  • "The Case for Alternative Dispute Resolution in Sports," Professional Sports and the Law. April 2012.
  • "The Case for Alternative Dispute Resolution in Sports," Sports Litigation Alert. February 10, 2012.

Presentations

  • Lecturer at Northwestern University’s Masters in Sports Administration Symposium, May 11, 2019 (lecturing on improving racial and gender diversity in professional sports).
  • Panelist at the University of Virginia, March 25, 2019 (presenting to the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy on improving gender and racial equality in professional sports).
  • Panelist at American Bar Association Annual Meeting, August 3, 2018 (presenting to American Bar Association on social activism in sports).
  • Panelist at Chicago Bar Association Headquarters, December 4, 2017 (presenting to Chicago Bar Association on legal perspectives on the federal investigation of NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball).
  • Lecturer at Chicago Bar Association Headquarters, September 14, 2017 (presenting to Chicago Bar Association Corporate Practice Committee on stadium finance).
  • Panelist at the University of Miami, March 24, 2017 (presenting to the University of Miami Sports Industry Conference on women in sports).
  • Panelist at the University of Virginia School of Law, February 10, 2017 (presenting to the University of Virginia Sports Law Symposium on gender inequality in professional sports).
  • Panelist at Fordham Sports Law Symposium, April 1, 2016 (presenting to Fordham Sports Law Symposium on gender inequality in professional sports).
  • Lecturer at Miami University School of Law, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in Professional and Amateur Sports, March 3, 2016 (presenting to Miami Law School's Women's Society).
  • Panelist at Valparaiso University Law School Sports Law Symposium, Hot Topics in Sports Law, November 13, 2015 (discussing morals clauses in the sports law industry).
  • Panelist at The John Marshall Law School Sports Law Symposium, An Introduction to the Entertainment Law & Sports Law Industries, October 29, 2015 (discussing stadium finance and adjunct teaching).
  • Panelist at Northwestern Law School Sports Law Symposium, An Introduction to Sports Law, October 22, 2015 (presenting to Northwestern Law students on stadium finance and morals clauses).
  • Lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Law, October 16, 2015 (presenting to University of Virginia’s Sports Law Society and Feminist Law Society on domestic violence policies in professional sports).
  • Lecturer at DePaul Law School Sports Law Symposium, September 22, 2015 (presenting to DePaul Law School Sports Law Society on domestic violence policies in professional sports).
  • Panelist at Sports Lawyers Association Chicago Outreach Event, Hot Topics in Sports Law, July 30, 2015 (discussing various hot topics prominent in the sports law industry).
  • Panelist at DePaul Law School Sports Law Symposium, April 10, 2015 (presenting to DePaul Law School Sports Law Symposium on domestic violence policies in professional sports).
  • Panelist at Northwestern Law School, March 19, 2015 (presenting to Northwestern Law students on stadium finance as part of their Sports Law Week program).
  • Guest speaker on Sports Law Chat, February 22, 2015 (discussing current sports law developments).
  • Panelist at Chicago Bar Association Headquarters, May 14, 2014 (presenting to Chicago Bar Association on legal implications of social media in sport).
  • Panelist at University of Florida Sports Law Symposium, April 4, 2014 (presenting to University of Florida Sports Law Symposium on amateurism and collegiate athletes).
  • Lecturer at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies, March 10, 2014 (presenting to Northwestern University's Sports Administration Program on morals clauses and reverse morals clauses in sports contracts).
  • Panelist at DePaul Law School Sports Law Symposium, March 7, 2014 (presenting to DePaul Law School Sports Law Symposium on morals clauses in player contracts and endorsement contracts).
  • Panelist at Duke Law School's 4th Annual Sports & Entertainment Law Symposium, February 7, 2014 (presenting to Duke Sports & Entertainment Law Society on structuring complex sports transactions).
  • Moderator at Chicago Bar Association Headquarters, November 18, 2013 (presenting to Chicago Bar Association on athletes in their second careers).
  • Panelist at Fordham Sports Law Symposium, April 19, 2013 (presenting to Fordham Sports Law Symposium on morals clauses and other ethical issues in sports contracting). 
  • Panelist at DePaul Law School Sports Law Symposium, March 8, 2013 (presenting to DePaul Law School Sports Law Symposium on Title IX, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963).
  • Lecturer at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies, May 6, 2013 (presenting to Northwestern University's Sports Administration Program on the 2012-2013 NHL Lockout). 
  • Lecturer at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies, February 6, 2013 (presenting to Northwestern University's Sports Administration Program on the 2012–2013 NHL Lockout).
  • Guest speaker on Sports Law Chat, December 16, 2012 (discussing the evolution of sports commissioners authority).
  • Panel Speaker at The John Marshall Law School, November 13, 2012 (presenting to The John Marshall Law School Entertainment, Media, and Sports Law Society on the 2012–2013 NHL Lockout).
  • Panelist at the Association for Conflict Resolution, January 25, 2012 (presenting to the Association for Conflict Resolution, Chicago Chapter, on the impact of alternative dispute resolution in sports).
  • Speaker at The John Marshall Law School, November 29, 2011 (presenting to The John Marshall Law School Entertainment, Media, and Sports Law Society on stadium finance).
  • Participant at the 2011 Sports Facilities & Franchises and Ticketing Symposium, May 24–May 26, 2011.

Media appearances

Television

  • NBC Nightly News
  • The Today Show
  • NBC News
  • Fox News Chicago

Radio

  • CBS Radio Los Angeles
  • Fox News Radio
  • 740 The Game
  • West Virginia MetroNews, Sportsline

We have always been focused on finance.

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