Ellen Zavian

Ellen Marsha Zavian (born June 15, 1963) is an American sports agent and attorney. She was the first National Football League (NFL) female attorney-agent. She is a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School. She is also the founder and owner of EZ Negotiation, a sports agency based in the Washington, D.C. area.

Early life and education Zavian was raised in Maywood, New Jersey. Her father played basketball and her mother was a gymnast, while her older brother ran track and her older sister played softball.

After graduating from law school, Zavian joined a Senior Management Group LLC law firm based near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and run by sports agent, Brett Senior, where she represented professional athletes as their attorney/agent. The terms of the contract stated that the women's soccer team would only receive a bonus if they won gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, while the men's soccer team contract stated they would receive an Olympic bonus if they won bronze, silver or gold. She helped create the X-Game and Gravity Games extreme athletes (skateboarders, bmx’ers and inliners) and the break dancers player associations. Zavian has served as the Founding Executive Director of the Women's National Team Players Association The Women's National Team Softball Association, The United Professional Skateboarder Association (UPSA).

In 2022, Zavian became the first General Counsel for USA Lacrosse, the governing body of lacrosse in the United States.

Journalism career Zavian has held several positions in the field of journalism. She served as an inaugural columnist for Conde Nast's Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal, covering the business of women's sports.

In addition, she also was a columnist for Fairchild's Branding magazine, covering the sports marketing, Pro Football Weekly, focusing on the business of the Pro Football Weekly and Bass Resource reporting on women.

She is Editor-in-chief for Esports and the Law and My Legal Bookie both of which focus on the legal issues within esports and gaming. In 2020, she became a Contributing Author in esports coverage for The Washington Post. Other writings and quotes of hers have appeared in Forbes, Sports Illustrated, The Guardian, Association of Corporate Counsel, and Sports Law Expert.

She has also made appearances on CNN, C-SPAN, and NPR.

Teaching career Zavian is currently a Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington School of Law.

Zavian has also taught at the University of Baltimore Law School, David A. Clarke School of Law, George Mason - Antonin Scalia Law School, and American University – Washington College of Law.

Awards 1992, Zavian was awarded the New Jersey Achievement Award

1997, Zavian was awarded the Top 20 Most Powerful Women In Sports by the Women's Sports and Fitness Foundation.

2001, Zavian was named to the Jewish Community Center of Greater DC's Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal life A resident of River Edge, New Jersey, she competes in marathons and triathlons and was a body builder.