Neil Blackmon

Neil Blackmon joined Sandberg Phoenix in 2024 and is a member of the Business Litigation Practice Group. He also serves as the firm’s NIL & Sports Law Team Lead. His practice includes a growing focus on the evolving Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) landscape and sports law matters, where he represents collegiate athletes in contract-related issues, including drafting, reviewing, and negotiating NIL agreements with institutions, collectives, and conferences. Neil also consults with and assists collegiate athletic programs and collectives on NIL contract strategy and NCAA compliance matters as the regulatory framework surrounding college athletics continues to evolve.

Beyond his work in NIL and sports law, Neil is an appellate and litigation support counsel who practices in a variety of areas of civil law. He has represented clients in both plaintiff’s counsel and defense counsel capacities in matters involving business torts, employment law matters, including civil rights claims, premises and product liability torts, general commercial litigation, commercial carrier litigation, the Uniform Commercial Code (Articles 3, 4, and 4A), professional malpractice litigation, and insurance coverage disputes. Neil has also regularly assisted fellow lawyers and large institutional corporate clients with appellate strategy, subpoena compliance, internal investigations, and pre-litigation strategy in an outside counsel capacity. Neil has defended and pursued several complex extracontractual insurance claims involving multiple institutional carriers in both state and federal courts. He has presented and lectured to industry professionals, adjusters, and attorneys as an insurance industry expert on bad faith claims in both the third and first party context.

Neil has defended large corporations in all phases of complex civil litigation and appeals. He has successfully briefed, argued, and defended several summary judgment motions on appeal in both state and federal courts. His litigation experience also includes preparing and defending corporate representatives and parties in depositions, representing those parties in court hearings, and preparing and arguing motions in a second-chair capacity for civil jury trials.

In addition to his legal practice, Neil has been an active commentator on emerging issues in college athletics and the NIL marketplace. Across platforms ranging from SEC Network and ESPN Radio to various online publications, he has written and provided analysis on topics including the future of college athletics in a NIL era, the aftermath of the House settlement, and the development of the NIL Go clearinghouse landscape.

Neil is licensed to practice law in all federal courts sitting in Florida and North Carolina, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Eleventh Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Before entering legal practice, Neil has worked as a journalist, developing extensive experience in writing, editing, reporting, and social media across a variety of media platforms.