Shearman Partner Interviews Jay Bilas, ESPN Broadcaster

Editor’s Note: This post is written by the head of Shearman & Sterling’s global intellectual property and technology transactions group. It is part of a contributor series that expands on interviews he conducts on his site, Hsu Untied , which look at the human side of lawyers.

By Richard Hsu, Partner and Global Head of Intellectual Property and Technology Transactions, Shearman & Sterling

Today, my guest isJay Bilas , an attorney at Moore & Van Allen who is also an Emmy nominated basketball analyst who provides courtside and studio commentary for ESPN and CBS Sports.

A four-year starter at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski, he helped lead Duke to the NCAA Final Four and National Championship Game. After playing professional basketball, Jay went back to Duke as an assistant coach and won two National Championships while simultaneously attending Duke Law School . Jay took time from his incredibly busy travel broadcast schedule to talk about playing basketball, coaching basketball, practicing law and being a sports broadcaster. Here are some highlights:

Click [HERE] for full interview.

Difference between playing in the NCAA championship vs. coaching an NCAA championship team . Even though Duke won the NCAA Championship twice while he was an assistant coach, Jay says there is nothing better or more thrilling than being a player on a winning team.

Why Jay went to law school after playing professional basketball . Jay liked the versatility of law school and particularly liked the idea that he could go to law school but necessarily be a lawyer. He says it was unquestionably one of the best decisions he ever made.

Why Jay became a practicing lawyer . Although Jay never planned on practicing law after law school, he ended up joining the law firm of Moore & Van Allen as a bankruptcy lawyer because he wanted the opportunity to be in court. He subsequently switched from creditors rights to litigation and practiced for nearly 9 years before becoming a full time broadcaster at ESPN.

How Jay compares being a broadcaster vs. being a player or coach . While he loves every minute of broadcasting, Jay says there is simply no substitute for the competitive feeling of winning and losing as a player or coach.

Whether broadcasting is a hard job . Like being a lawyer, some are better at it than others, but broadcasting is a job that he loves.

The downside of being a broadcaster . Constant travel.

Whether Jay misses practicing law . Jay says he misses the day-to-day interaction with his fellow attorneys and the intellectual stimulation of practicing law. However, he said that he didn’t realize until after quitting the law practice that he didn’t enjoy the practice of law as much as he thought. He said he definitely does not miss the stress and the long hours!

Life after full time broadcasting . Jay doesn’t see himself ever going back to law practice, but says he gets a lot of benefit from his legal training in what he does -- even though he hasn’t practiced law for over a decade.