You won’t find many Harvard University alumna on the field in the NFL, but that didn’t hinder Megha Parekh from joining the Jacksonville Jaguars’ front office.
Parekh, 32, joined the team in 2013 as vice president and general counsel and three years later was promoted to senior vice president and chief legal officer.
As keynote speaker, she told members and guests of The Jacksonville Bar Association on Wednesday how she joined the league.
She said she had been around sports most of her life, including tutoring athletes at her public high school “to keep them on the team” and working for the Boston Red Sox while at Harvard Law School.
One of the coaches encouraged her to apply to Harvard, where she received an undergraduate degree and then attended the university’s law school, where she graduated in 2009.
While working at the Proskauer Rose law firm’s New York City office on a January afternoon in 2013, she received a text message informing her that team owner Shad Khan was looking for a general counsel.
The firm specializes in sports mergers and acquisitions and finance and worked with Khan when he was negotiating to purchase the Jaguars.
Considering New York weather in January and the prospect of a few days in Florida, “I said ‘sure,’” Parekh said.
After she interviewed with Khan at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Khan offered her the position of vice president and general counsel.
“He said, ‘I think you can do this job,’” said Parekh, who moved into her office at EverBank Field on March 1, 2013.
She leads the team’s three-member legal department and works on business matters.
“Player contracts, coaches contracts and sponsor agreements take up most of my time,” Parekh said, but she’s also been a key player in Khan’s acquisition of Fulham FC, his soccer team in London, and public-private improvements at EverBank Field, such as the Daily’s Place amphitheater.
The combination of sports and entertainment is a good fit for her, Parekh said. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. from India in the 1970s and as a child, she sometimes felt like an outsider.
“I wanted to be like the other kids. Through sports and music, I was able to connect with people,” she said.
No April JBA meeting
The association will not schedule a general membership meeting in April. The annual Law Day member luncheon is scheduled at noon May 2 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.