The National Football League’s (NFL) Arizona Cardinals have taken an internal step to support their legal department by promoting Kevin Manara to the position of general counsel. A seasoned labor and employment attorney, Manara joined the Cardinals as special counsel in the summer of 2021 after a tenure as general counsel for the Las Vegas Raiders, and a stint at the NFL headquarters in New York.
Upon his promotion in January, Manara joined the ranks of the Cardinals’ executive staff, a fact confirmed by the team’s own front office page. He succeeds David Koeninger, who is now listed as the Cardinals’ chief legal officer, after filling the role of general counsel for the past 15 years. Notably, Koeninger brought his years of experience as a former corporate partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in San Francisco to the football league.
This change in the Cardinals’ legal team comes as the organization navigates legal and employment issues. Two former 2022 Cardinals coaches joined a prominent racial discrimination lawsuit against the league and other teams. This suit was initiated by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, a case which the NFL appeals after a federal court last year denied the NFL’s bid to arbitrate the case.
Last year, the NFL appointed Jeffrey Mishkin, a retired partner and former head of the sports practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, to arbitrate an internal Cardinals dispute. Terry McDonough, the team’s former vice president of player personnel, brought defamation and invasion of privacy claims against the club and its owner Michael Bidwill.
Manara’s initial connection to the NFL began in 2008 when he served as a labor and employment associate at Proskauer Rose, the firm has acted as outside counsel to the NFL concerning labor matters since that year. Throughout his time with the NFL, Manara ascended to the position of vice president of labor relations and policy.
Ultimately, Manara left the Raiders in 2021 amidst an organizational shake-up which included hiring a new club president Sandra Douglass Morgan, a former of counsel at Covington & Burling, and general counsel Justin Carley. Covington too has long-lasting connections with the NFL as a legal advisor.
The transition in the Cardinals’ legal department comes at a time when other NFL franchises are also turning over their law department leadership. The Chicago Bears announced in January their decision not to bring back their general counsel of two decades, Cliff Stein, and the Buffalo Bills parted ways with their longtime general counsel in 2022.
As legal poises itself at the forefront of the NFL’s agenda, legal professionals like Manara are finding themselves serving as important strategic players in the league’s executive staff.