Legal Practice
Eldon L. Ham, P.C. (Ham Law) is engaged in the private practice of law, emphasizing commercial legal matters, sports, entertainment, and publishing.
He became the first attorney to successfully challenge, overturn, and change NFL drug testing policy through Richard Dent v. NFL in 1988 — a landmark moment in sports law.
Academic Career
Eldon Ham has served as an Adjunct Professor at IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law since 1994, where he teaches Sports, Law & Society. He received the Distinguished Service Award in 2010.
His courses cover league authority and drug testing, sports agents, labor and antitrust law, disabilities, discrimination, and Title IX — among other foundational sports law topics.
He has served as Faculty Sponsor and Coach of IIT/Chicago-Kent's baseball arbitration team, leading the team to multiple top-three finishes at the National Baseball Arbitration Competition at Tulane University.
Media & Broadcasting
Eldon Ham is the designated legal analyst for WSCR 670 Sports Radio in Chicago and a frequent contributor to the Chicago Sun-Times.
He has been nationally quoted in the New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, ESPN.com, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal MarketWatch, and many more. He has appeared on WTTW's Chicago Tonight, NFL Network, WGN Radio, and other major broadcast outlets.
Publications & Scholarship
He is the author of five books on sports history and law. His articles have appeared in the Harvard University Sports Law Journal, Berkeley Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law, American Bar Journal, Street & Smith Sports Business Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Trial Magazine, Seton Hall Sports Law Journal, and Marquette Sports Law Review.
Nonprofit & Community Leadership
Eldon Ham co-founded the Sports Education Symposium at Loyola University, Chicago, and founded the Sports Is Education Foundation — a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the legal and sociological relationship of sports and education at all school levels.
He has served as Chairperson of the Chicago Bar Association Law & Literature Committee, and as a panel member at DePaul University Sports Law Symposium and the Jackie Robinson Symposium.
Notable Expert Work
He has served as a retained expert in matters including an NBA sports endorsement contract dispute, a shoulder injury damages calculation for a left-handed pitcher, and a LeBron James trademark dispute over the KING JAMES mark before the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board. He also served as a consultant to the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin on NFL bounties.