Gord Kirke

Kirke began his legal career in 1971, as a litigation lawyer with Goodman & Goodman. He was introduced to sports and entertainment law, working under Herb Solway who had ties to the Labatt Brewing Company, which was active in 1977 Major League Baseball expansion discussions. Kirke prepared the original documents which led to the foundation of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1976.[1] He remained as legal counsel and negotiated player contracts on behalf of the team. When he negotiated a contract for Doyle Alexander, the team refused to pay Alexander if he injured himself while hunting. Kirke worked out a compromise where Alexander would collect money while hurt, "only if he was following all hunting regulations and wearing an orange hunting jacket".[1] Other notable contracts Kirke worked on include Joe Carter, Roberto Alomar, Carlos Delgado and Roger Clemens.[1]

Kirke began a teaching career as a professor of sports law at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 1985, and has taught the Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws courses at the Osgoode Hall Law School since 1987. He has also been a guest lecturer at other schools in Canada and the United States,[4][7] and has been published in journals and authored legal articles.[8]

In 1991, Kirke became an advisor to Eric Lindros after Lindros was chosen first overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. Kirke was involved in negotiating the player's lucrative contract after the Eric Lindros trade to the Philadelphia Flyers. Kirke later stated about the incident that, "There were all kinds of allegations of Eric being anti-Quebec. But I knew it to be absolutely false. It had more to do with the management of the team".[1]

Kirke was commissioned by the Canadian Hockey League to report on sexual abuse and harassment in 1997, and published his findings in the Players First Report.[8] His research included interviews with teachers, social workers, psychiatrists, police, and prison inmates. Kirke stated, "I was surprised at how prevalent this is in society. And the second surprise is how little we know or want to know about it. It's a yucky subject".[1] The report was later used as a guideline for conduct in minor ice hockey.[2]

In the year 2000, Kirke was a managing partner in Sportsco International Corporation led by Pat Gillick, which submitted the highest bid in a court-supervised auction, to purchase the SkyDome where the Toronto Blue Jays played.[9]

In 2001, Kirke co-founded KSR Sports Representatives Incorporated, and began working as an agent for professional athletes.[1][10] He described his work by saying, "as a player agent, you touch on almost every discipline or area of law you can think of: contracts, anti-trust, judicial reviews, arbitration/mediation, dissemination, immigration, tax laws, criminal — you name it". Through KSR, he represented 45 National Hockey League (NHL) players, of whom Lindros was the first.[11] Kirke later represented Mike Modano and Rick Nash. The contract which Kirke negotiated on behalf of Nash in 2002, was the most lucrative contract for an NHL rookie at the time, valued at 1.2 million USD per season plus bonuses and incentives which ranged from 8 to 12 million USD. Kirke let his license as a player lapse in 2005.[1]

Kirke later established his own barrister and solicitor practice in Toronto.[12] He became the first Canadian director of the Sports Lawyers Association of America, and later served as its first Canadian president.[4][5] He represented the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2007 George J. Mitchell investigation into performance-enhancing substances in baseball.[5][8][12]

In 2008, Kirke joined Global Resolutions, which specializes in arbitration and mediation.[8] He represented the Toronto Maple Leafs in recruiting a new president and general manager, and the signing of Brian Burke to fill the role.[2][12][13] Also in 2008, Kirke helped mediate negotiations between the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Copyright Music & Visuals regarding The Hockey Theme, a theme song used during Hockey Night in Canada since 1968, composed by Dolores Claman.[14]

Kirke has regularly appeared in media as a commentator on Off the Record with Michael Landsberg on The Sports Network, and Sportsnet 590 The Fan radio with Bob McCown.[1] Kirke is a frequent guest on television and radio networks which include ESPN, NBC, CBC Sports, CTV Television Network, SCORE, and Sportsnet.[7] He served on the board of directors for the 95th Grey Cup,[4] and has a recurring role as the chairman of the Memorial Cup site selection committee.[12]

Kirke has also acted as legal counsel to professional and amateur athletes in other sports besides hockey and baseball. Notable clients include professional wrestler Bret Hart, and race car driver Kat Teasdale.[15] He also represented Olympic athletes Donovan Bailey, Elfi Schlegel, and Tara Teigan.[1][15] When Hart was suggested as a client, Kirke said "I sat down to get this over with and say I didn't want to represent him but he totally won me over. He was a very warm individual and he showed me poetry he wrote". Kirke then agreed to be his lawyer and they became good friends.[1]

Kirke has been legal counsel to sports businesspeople including, Gord Ash, Paul Beeston, John Bitove, Ken Derrett, Rick Dudley, Pat Gillick, Chris Overholt, Richard Peddie, Keith Pelley, and Tom Wright.[1][7] Kirke also represented teams including the Toronto Raptors, Toronto Argonauts, and Indianapolis Colts; and sports groups including the Canadian Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, and World Wrestling Federation.[7]