Amy Zhao

By: Matt Jacob

It’s not uncommon for law students to hold off on choosing a definitive career path until after completing their juris doctor. Amy Zhao certainly is someone who falls into that wait-and-see category.

That said, a career in sports law is absolutely on the table for Zhao. Which is a bit strange, seeing that she didn’t grow up a sports fan. Nor did she grow up wanting to be a lawyer.

In fact, Zhao didn’t really consider law school until several years into a fulfilling marketing career.

“I knew at a young age that I wanted to help people solve problems,” Zhao says. “That initially led me to marketing, which I thoroughly enjoyed. But when I reached a point where I was ready for something new, I decided to go to law school with the idea of helping companies bridge the gap between their marketing and legal teams.”

The University of Michigan graduate and outdoor enthusiast chose Boyd Law in part because it was located in a dynamic city surrounded by an array of hiking and rock-climbing opportunities. Shortly after she arrived, she realized that Southern Nevada offered something else: a lot of opportunities in sports and entertainment law.

Fast forward to this past summer, when Zhao — who began developing an interest in sports during her time at Michigan — spent nearly two months interning with the Las Vegas Raiders’ legal department.

The internship overlapped with that of fellow Boyd student Kiana Parkes, with both working roughly 30 hours per week. Like Parkes, Zhao assisted with legal research, drafting and reviewing contracts, and reviewing legal requests from other business units. Most of Zhao’s projects fell in the intellectual property space, which — like Parkes — is her area of concentration at Boyd.

As she reaches the midpoint of law school, Zhao con- firms that she still hasn’t solidified her career plans. However, if she does pursue sports law, she definitely wouldn’t mind returning to Raiders headquarters.

“Interning with the Raiders convinced me that I would thoroughly enjoy being an in-house lawyer at a large company,” Zhao says. “And while I don’t really believe in the concept of dream jobs, if I did end up working for the Raiders, I think it would feel like a dream job.”