SEC Tag Team - The Players in Today's Legal Match in Birmingham

Representing the SEC

Local Counsel - Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP provides the local attorneys licensed in the USDC for the Northern District of Alabama. With the advent of electronic filing, these attorneys' sole job is to try and look good.


R. Thomas Warburton
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Partner
University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 2001
Virginia Military Institute, B.A., 1998


T. Brooks Proctor, Partner
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
University of Alabama School of Law, J.D., 2016
Washington & Lee University, B.A., 2012


The Specialists - Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A. represented the SEC in NCAA v. Alston (The Monopoly-Breaking Catalyst), and in the House-Hubbard-Carter trio of consolidated cases (House v. NCAA (The Core Case), Hubbard v. NCAA (The "Alston" Back-Pay Case), and Carter v. NCAA (The Direct Pay Attack)) brought against the NCAA and the Power Five conferences (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and Pac-12) filed as class actions on behalf of thousands of current and former Division I student-athletes. The plaintiffs argued that the NCAA's amateurism rules illegally blocked them from earning fair compensation and sharing in the billions of dollars generated by college sports. The three cases were ultimately consolidated, resulting in a landmark $2.8 billion settlement approved by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken.

From both a legal and structural standpoint, the Alston, House, Hubbard, and Carter cases represent a massive loss for the SEC. The SEC was forced to completely abandon its long-held legal defense and remake the collegiate sports business model. The Alston case was a total legal defeat. The House-Hubbard-Carter trio of consolidated cases resulted in billions in financial damages; the SEC and its co-defendants agreed to pay a staggering $2.8 billion in retroactive damages to former athletes. The primary objective of the SEC in these lawsuits was to defend their right to restrict athlete compensation. They failed entirely.

Naturally, the SEC hired them again.



Robert W. Fuller
Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., Shareholder
Duke University, J.D., 1983
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.S., 1980


Amanda P. Nitto
Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., Shareholder
University of South Carolina, J.D., 2012
Roanoke College, B.A., 2009


Travis S. Hinman
Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., Shareholder
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, J.D., 2016
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A., 2013


The Referee for the Match;



University of Alabama School of Law, J.D., 1999
University of Alabama, B.A., 1995


Representing Rouse, Ausberry, Kiffin, and the individual members of the LSU Board of Supervisors

Local Counsel - Bainbridge, Mims, Rogers & Smith LLP


Bruce F. Rogers
Bainbridge, Mims, Rogers & Smith LLP
Vanderbilt University, J.D., 1983
Birmingham-Southern College, B.A., 1980