Rick / George

Rick before arriving at Harvard.

Rick with LeBron.

Rick in 2023.

George at Mass Hall, 1972.

Frederick “Rick” Nance is one of the country’s leading sports and entertainment attorneys, representing LeBron James and comedian Dave Chappelle among many others. But as he tells  former track and field teammate George Yeadon, his success was the result of an improbable “series of adventures” shaped by timing and luck.  Noting that most major law firms weren’t hiring Black attorneys when he was growing up, Rick says, “If I had been born ten years earlier, my career couldn’t have happened.” Befriended by a senior partner at Squire Patton Boggs in Cleveland, Rick’s rapid trajectory included advising the mayor, overseeing an historic desegregation case, and representing the Cleveland Browns football team. Never a devotee of the sports page, he had to read up on who LeBron James was when a woman approached him to represent an outstanding high school basketball player who needed guidance. It’s just one of many incidents in a story of professional achievement and community leadership told with humility, insight, and humor.