[Music] Welcome to the Millennial Lawyer Podcast with New York litigation attorney Mark Shirian. I’m Evan Mack and I’m here with Mark Shirian to discuss the legal complexities surrounding sports injuries, whether they happen on the school field, at the gym, or during recreational play. How you doing after this incredible run by the Indiana Pacers? Let’s get that started before we get started. How are you feeling? Are you going to be better? 

I’ve been better. But before we get down to it, you guys you could,I think you guys are on the upswing though. You guys are on your way, right? 

Hopefully, you know, depending on some of the changes that might happen this off season. We’ll see. But I think uh the future’s bright, not only for the Knicks, but for the Pacers and uh we’ll see. We’ll see what happens. 

Absolutely. Let’s get down to brass tax. So, what makes sports injury cases legally different from a typical injury claim? 

Sports injury cases are different because if you think about it, people are just having a good time. They’re competing. These are high energy environments. But they have their own inherent risks. So unlike a car accident, you know, courts expect athletes to accept some danger. So we focus on proving negligence like faulty equipment or reckless coaching that goes beyond normal play. 

Is it way more difficult? Is there a little more, you know, details involved? 

You have to kind of navigate it differently. Even though based on what you just said it is difficult because when you talk about consent and a lot of times you’re not playing a sport by accident. You’ve consented to engaging in that sort of competition and you know that it comes with the assumption of the risk depending on what the sport is. So I would say some sports are easier to prove than others, but every sport has some sort of inherent risk and an assumption of risk when you’re engaging in that sport. 

Can you break that down to the layman or the people that are watching that assumption of risk and in kind of just the detail behind that and what that actually means and how does that apply to athletic injury lawsuits? 

Yeah. So assumption of risk means athletes consent to certain dangers. So, like a tackle in football, it’s not a complete blank check. It’s because the coach ignores safety protocols or the gym fails to maintain equipment. We can argue that the injury wasn’t part of the game and is beyond the assumption of that risk. That’s how you win a case with sports injuries. 

Have you ever had any cases recently about anybody, you know, any CTE things, any head things because of that because of that new movement on, you know, injuries from players playing football? Have you got any head injuries? Anything coming across your way? 

We haven’t handled any of the CTE cases, but I will say that the movie with Will Smith was a complete eye opener because it is interesting because I think with that movie Concussion, I’m talking about the movie Concussion. Yes. Yes, we realize that a lot of these, you know, unfortunately the NFL was concealing a lot of these studies with respect to CTE and they didn’t want that to get out. And obviously now in 2025, there’s plenty of information out there where athletes can make that decision whether they want to partake in this type of sport or not, which unfortunately may cause head injuries and CTE and all that. But I think the difference between now and then is that then they didn’t really have the information that they needed to make that decision. They didn’t know how dangerous it was to engage in the sport. Now the information’s out there and you do you definitely assume that risk if you’re engaging in a high impact sport like that. We haven’t handled a CTE case, but we do have a case where a fellow was playing soccer at a soccer field in the Bronx and there was a piece of cement within the soccer field and he went to go kick the ball and he hit this piece of cement and it’s our position that this should not have been within the soccer field and that’s outside of the the scope of the assumption of risk. 

Well, that yeah, that has to be you’re assuming risk but you don’t know you’re going to kick a piece of concrete, you know. Exactly. That’s wild. So, when are liability waivers or release forms not legally enforceable? 

Well, waivers aren’t bulletproof. You know, if the facility is grossly negligent, like ignoring known hazards or intentional misconduct, a lot of the time goes beyond a general release. The other times we’ve seen that is for kids. You know, waivers signed by parents can sometimes be challenged as well. So, it’s not complete, you know, just because you signed a waiver doesn’t mean you can’t bring a lawsuit. 

Are there distinct legal considerations for like youth sports compared to adult recreational leagues? Is it kind of a different scope when it comes to that because of the age? 

Yeah, absolutely. So, youth sports involve stricter oversight because kids can’t fully consent to risks and schools and coaches have a higher duty to protect these kids, you know, as opposed to adults engaging in sports. So, that is a good question and I would say that with kids, it becomes more of a higher duty to supervise those kids when they’re engaging in sports. 

For sure. Why do you think that is though? 

Because you know kids still want to engage in a sport. They’re younger but they still want to play. You know what I mean? 

Why is it strictly just because of their age? They don’t have the same level of assumption of risk. Is it just because of age? 

I think it’s age and also you know kids don’t necessarily know all the rules when it comes to a sport. So having that extra oversight over kids is important because kids are more unpredictable than adults often. 

So ah well said. In your experience what are the most common injuries that are litigated in sports law? 

Concussions, fractures, spinal injuries. Liability often falls on coaches for poor training, schools for unsafe fields, or even manufacturers for defective gears. So it depends on where the negligence lies. But a specific injury, I would say obviously the orth, you know, the orthopedic injuries you see more often than not, when you’re talking about kids getting injured playing sports. 

And without going into too many specifics, do you have a case that you can remember that was like really difficult for you and your firm? 

We had a case where we sued a university and a coach for being verbally abusive. Not only was he verbally abusive, but he was a wrestling coach. It was a wrestling program. My client was a division one wrestler. And the position was that the coach promoted a fight club culture. And it was a difficult case because I actually wrestled in college and I coached wrestling at a private school on Long Island, an all boy school. So the question becomes what is beyond what is expected in the sport of wrestling? So our allegation was that this coach created this fight club culture where wrestlers were fighting and that was beyond the scope of wrestling because in layman terms you can’t punch during a wrestling match. No, if the coach was promoting that sort of violence, which we were able to prove, then that certainly is outside of what’s expected. And like I said before, the assumption of risk when it comes to wrestling. So I would call it coach’s malpractice really. Yeah. Where the coach is just not doing a good job with respect to what’s expected with respect to a coach because a coach has a lot of responsibility. A lot of responsibility and a lot of power and a lot of control and absolutely as an athlete you don’t want to be insubordinate to the coach. 

Absolutely.

And you know you know how it can get. So we see that a lot that that was one case that was difficult but we were able to resolve it to everyone’s liking. So yeah if any athlete at any level you know who plays any sport we all know that that power dynamic between coaches because you want to be you know what I mean you want to be liked. You want to get playing time. You want to be, you know what I mean? You want to be in favor of the coach and it’s a tough situation to be in when you’re trying to just pursue a goal, pursue a dream. 

Absolutely. Absolutely. It’s important. 

And especially the college kids, the college, you’re only in college once. You know, with wrestling, not necessarily there’s a professional future in that, but you know, you’re only in college once and a lot of your friends are on the team as well. So, it makes it even harder to complain and potentially bring a lawsuit against the university or the coaches or the school when you know your friends are also part of the program as well. So, that’s a very, you know, you talk about challenging, that’s a challenging dynamic as well. 

Often throughout your career, have you seen culture shift in sports, you know, because as I was growing up, you know, like hazing and all these different things were commonplace, not not keeping your mouth shut. Have you seen a culture shift for the better as you’ve pursued cases? 

That’s a great question and I’ll tell you I think that so with that wrestling example that I gave you I actually had reached out to my wrestling coach in college at NYU. 

Wow. 

Because I wanted his opinion on the case and what was going on and he told me he’s like you know what this coach did was egregious but he’s like I’ll be honest with you there are things that we said and did when you were a wrestler that we just couldn’t do now, we couldn’t say now, we have to speak to these athletes differently we have to conduct ourselves differently now than we did when you were in school so that’s a really good question. Now I’m very proud of the athletes now in that they’re empowered to speak up about hazing, about abuse, about things that make them feel uncomfortable. I think that’s great because when things happen in the dark and no one’s talking about it, it’s a silent killer and you don’t know how that’s impacting them on the field and how it’s affecting them off the field. So, there has been a culture shift. I’ve heard that from coaches. Obviously, I’m not in the game in that capacity anymore, but I am seeing, you know, and you know it with the NIL and everything, you see this athlete empowerment, and I think it’s a great thing uh that athletes can are empowered to speak up and to get paid what they’re worth. I’m all about that and there has definitely been a culture change and I think it is for the better in most sense. Obviously, it’s not all positive. But I think it is when it comes to reporting abuse and holding schools accountable, I like what I’m seeing with the way things have shifted. 

So, that’s good to hear. So, what steps should an injured athlete family take immediately after an incident? You know, is there a time frame? What would you recommend them do? 

I would say get medical attention immediately first thing even if it’s a minor injury because you don’t know how that’s going to develop. So first and foremost get medical attention immediately. Then document the scene photos, witness names. Don’t sign anything from the facility. Call a lawyer fast to preserve evidence and protect your rights. 

Amazing. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mark, for joining us. 

Pleasure to be here. Thank you so much. 

And thank you all for tuning in to the Millennial Lawyer Podcast with New York Litigation attorney Mark Shirian. For more information, visit shirianpc.com. Like, comment, subscribe, leave us a review, where you can get all this great information. 

Thank you guys. Thanks for watching. 

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