Board of Directors & Advisors
David J. Lisko
President and Chairman of the Board of Directors
David J. Lisko is an attorney in Holland & Knight’s Tampa, Florida Office and a member of the firm’s Business Litigation and Sports & Entertainment Sections. Mr. Lisko is also a Certified NFL Agent and business and crisis management consultant. Mr. Lisko advises clients on contract negotiations, strategic business planning, litigation in state and federal courts, white collar criminal defense, alternative dispute resolution, investigations, and compliance policies and procedures. Mr. Lisko’s clients consist of athletes, Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs and startup companies, teams, and non-profits charitable organizations. In addition to being the President of the Sports Business and Leadership Association, Mr. Lisko is on the Board of Directors of Jacob Burke’s Just A Kid Foundation, a Member of the Sports Lawyers Association, and a Member of the National Football League Players Association. Mr. Lisko was named a Tampa Bay Business Journal Up and Comer in 2014, a Barrister’s Best Sports and Entertainment Lawyer for Law Week Colorado in 2016, and a Florida Super Lawyer’s Rising Star in 2017.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Lisko received an bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University and attended law school at The Ohio State Moritz College of Law. While in law school, Mr. Lisko worked under the general counsel of the Columbus Blue Jacket NHL team, was a managing editor for the Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution, the winner of the Lawrence Negotiation Competition, and a finalist in the American Bar Association Negotiation Competition. Prior to entering law school, Mr. Lisko played wide receiver on The Ohio State University football team (2004-2008) and was an “Academic All-Big Ten Team Selection” and a three-time “Big Ten Conference Champion.” Mr. Lisko also played lacrosse at The Ohio State University his freshman year and was a “Great Western Lacrosse League Champion.”
Mr. Lisko is married to his wife, Chelsie, and has three children. Mr. Lisko has a passion for sports, helping children, and making a difference in his community.
Mr. Lisko’s law firm bio can be found at https://www.hklaw.com/David-Lisko/
Jeff Kominsky
Director and President of Miami, FL Chapter
Jeffrey Kominsky is an attorney at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP’s Fort Lauderdale office. Mr. Kominsky’s practice focuses on commercial litigation, maritime/admiralty litigation, and personal injury/wrongful death. Before joining Lewis & Brisbois, Mr. Kominsky was an attorney at Conrad & Scherer LLP and he practiced with a large Florida firm, where he gained experience in general litigation, including negligence, medical malpractice, and contract disputes.
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Kominsky honed his legal skills while working for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C. and the Civil Rights Section of the Office of the Ohio Attorney General. From 2002 through 2005, Mr. Kominsky interned with the Minnesota Vikings, reporting directly to former Vikings owner, Red McCombs. Mr. Kominsky’s interest in sports continued into his studies at law school as the Founder & Chair of the Inaugural Sports Law Symposium at The Ohio State University. Mr. Kominsky received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Michigan in 2005 and his juris doctorate degree from Moritz School of Law in 2008. He resides in South Florida.
Matt Mika
Director and President of Washington, D.C. Chapter
Mika is the Director of Government Relations for Tyson Foods, Inc. in Washington, D.C. Mika has been with Tyson foods for over eight years working on issues pertaining to the House and Senate Agriculture and Appropriations Committees, along with House specific issues and letters, agriculture, transportation, environment, energy, and ethanol issues.
Before Tyson Foods, Mika has worked for the American Meat Institute now the North American Meat Institute, and for three Members of the Michigan Delegation, Rep. Nick Smith (R-MI-07), Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI-04), and Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI-07). Mika spent six years working in the Michigan state legislature for former Lieutenant Governor Dick Posthumus, former State Representative David Palsrok (110th). He has run several successful state representatives, statewide, and congressional campaigns; and worked on the Advance team for President George W. Bush.
Born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and raised in Southfield, MI just north of Detroit, Mika has lived in Washington, DC since 2004. Mika is an avid sports fan and involved in many sports from baseball, softball, golf, hockey, basketball, and others. Mr. Mika is a commissioner of The United States House Softball League (USHSL). He is a volunteer staff coach for the Republican team for the annual bipartisan Congressional Baseball Game. Mika is one of five survivors who was shot at a Congressional Baseball practice in 2017.
Mika received his Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice with a Political Science/Pre-law Minor from Adrian College, in 2001 in Adrian, MI and played on both the football and baseball teams. In 2010, he was awarded the Young Alumni Achievement Award from Adrian College. The 1997 Football Team which Mr. Mika was a member was inducted into the Adrian College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014. Mr. Mika is the president of the Agribusiness Club of Washington, D.C. and a member of Toastmasters.
Neema J. Kassaii
Director and President of Denver, CO Chapter
Neema J. Kassaii is currently an attorney at Cozen O’Connor in Denver, Colorado. He is also the Co-Founder and Co-Owner of ULAX, LLC, which is a lacrosse organization that hosts lacrosse events throughout the continental United States and Canada with approximately 5,000 participants each year. Neema concentrates his law practice on complex commercial litigation matters. Mr. Kassaii represents and advises clients on an array of topics including, product liability, casualty defense, construction law litigation, insurance disputes, employment discrimination, breach of contract, toxic tort, environmental pollution and catastrophic personal injury defense. He has successfully represented individuals and corporations in both state and federal court. Mr. Kassaii also serves as a member of Cozen O’Connor’s sports law industry group.
Prior to joining Cozen O’Connor, Mr. Kassaii clerked in the 18th Judicial District Court of Colorado. He earned his J.D., with honors, from Brooklyn Law School. While at Brooklyn Law School, Mr. Kassaii was a staff editor on Brooklyn Law School’s Journal of Law and Policy. In addition, he worked as a legal research assistant in the area of employment law, obtained a certificate in intellectual property law, and was awarded the Donald D. Greenstein Prize for Excellence in Employee Pension and Labor Law. Mr. Kassaii earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and communication from the University of Colorado at Boulder where he played on the men’s lacrosse team.
Justin Moore
Co-Founder and CEO
Justin R. Moore is an in-house attorney and construction manager at Granite Construction, a publicly-traded general contractor specializing in heavy civil infrastructure projects. Mr. Moore operates from Granite’s Southeastern Regional Office in Tampa, Florida. Prior to joining Granite, Mr. Moore practiced law in Tampa at national and international law firms from 2010 to 2017 where his practice focused on construction, real estate and sports. Mr. Moore received his law degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, and is a member of the Florida Bar.
Mr. Moore is a military veteran and served in the United States Air Force as a commissioned officer and pilot until his honorable discharge before starting law school. He received his bachelor’s degree from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he graduated with athletic distinction in 2004 and received a prestigious leadership award for most outstanding squadron commander in his first class (senior) year. Mr. Moore also attended the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, for a semester as part of the service academy exchange program.
John P. Higgins
Director
John P. Higgins joined the Tampa Rays organization as its first employee on April 1, 1995, when he was named the team’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel. From 1999 through 2007, he also served as the organization’s chief financial officer. Mr. Higgins has practiced law in the Tampa Bay area since 1979, specializing in corporate, commercial and real estate law. He is also a certified public accountant. For three years, he represented Vince Naimoli and the rest of the Tampa Bay ownership group in its efforts to acquire a Major League Baseball franchise. In addition to his responsibilities with the Rays, he is “of counsel” to the Holland & Knight law firm. Mr. Higgins currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Rays Baseball Foundation and the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce. He is also past chairman of the St. Petersburg Chamber as well as PARC. He was the recipient of the 2013 Clutch Hitters Award from the Clutch Hitters of Tampa Bay organization. Mr. Higgins received his bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1975 and his juris doctorate degree from Duke University School of Law in 1979. He resides in St. Petersburg, Florida, his home since 1960, with his wife, Robin. They have two sons, Sean Patrick and Patrick Ryan, and two grandchildren, Ryan Matthew and Jordan Reilly.