FLORIDA: A National Football League's (NFL) team, the Jacksonville Jaguars has just hired an Indian-American attorney as an integral part of the group. Owned by Pakistani-American Shahid Khan, the club had hired Megha Parekh in 2013 to serve as vice president and general counsel, later promoting her to senior vice president and chief legal officer in 2016. Parekh will look after all the legal matters of the team, development and training, information technology and capital improvements.
Harvard University and Harvard Law School graduate, Parekh has also worked on the extension of EverBank's naming rights and selection and engagement of new food, beverage and merchandise providers of EverBank Field. “The most interesting and challenging aspect of working with the Jaguars is that every day is wildly different. I'm responsible for legal, government relations, human resources, technology and certain aspects of stadium development. Our in-house legal team handles work for the football team and also for our amphitheater and events companies, a sports analytics company, and a handful of other portfolio businesses,” Parekh said.
She added, “On any given day, you might find me at City Hall working with the administration on stadium capital project planning or downtown development plans, giving a training to our people, or sneaking off to a quiet but sunny part of the stadium to read a contract.” The Indian-American attorney said she takes an “all-hands-on-deck approach” to her job. She credits her time at New York-based Proskauer for pushing her to her current post. “Mr Khan acquired the Jaguars in Januar 2012, and about a year after the deal closed, the position opened up. There was no way to predict when the position would become available.”
Praising Khan, she said since she has been working for him, she has nothing but wonderful things to say about the owner. “But paramount among them is his intellectual curiosity. There's no topic that I've ever been speaking with him on where he either isn't more knowledgeable, or due to his native intellect, he grasps and masters. That goes for everything from cars to shoes to wines.”
No less herself, Parekh was named in Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 Sports List in 2012 and 2013, and has also been named a Woman of Influence in 2014, Ultimate Attorney in 2016 and to the Sports Business Journal's 40 Under 40 this year, all acclaims received during her stint with the Jaguars.
