A World of Experience
Will Kronblat, J.D. ’26, I.P. LL.M. ’26, was a self-described “K through J.D.” and a double-dawg who also double majored in Political Science and Law, Societies & Justice. Becoming a lawyer was his intent from the onset of his collegiate experience, which was largely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are students who dive right in, and then there’s Will. “I really tried to get a lot of experiential learning opportunities, connecting broadly within the law school via the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic, and outside the school with an externship and part-time work for a plaintiff litigation law firm called Hagens Berman,” said Kronblat.
He credits UW Law with pushing him to think critically about both the law and how he wanted to apply himself at the end of school. Opportunities to connect with peers, professors and practitioners helped guide his choices on where to get involved. And that's how he ended up as a FIFA volunteer.
Will took a sports law class with Chris McCleary, who had Felipe Mendez, formerly the General Counsel for the Seattle Sounders, and now the Chief Legal Officer for Seattle FWC26, as a guest speaker. At the end of class, Mendez made subtle mention of being able to volunteer with FIFA’s brand protection team and Kronblat immediately followed up on it.
“Outside of law school, one of the biggest things that I'm into is sports, whether that be soccer, football, baseball — you name it,” said Kronblat. “I really wanted to make sure that I combined my legal interest with sports and took advantage of this opportunity, even though it's happening at the same time as studying for the bar. It’s only six games, so I figured I can manage both, and it's been a cool and fun opportunity.”
What do “brand protection” volunteers do? Will is part of a team that helps keep FIFA's sponsorships intact and remains on the lookout for counterfeit goods or other brand infringements. “It's been exciting to see how intricate FIFA and the World Cup are from both a legal and operational standpoint,” said Kronblat.
Three of the volunteers on the brand protection team, including Kronblat, have legal education and/or experience and act as brand protection coordinators who help lead the brand protection team. To kick things off, FIFA and Seattle FWC26 organizers met with them to go over the role, including a walkaround of the stadium perimeter that would be their area of focus. “It makes sense that you can’t police the entire city in terms of intellectual property or sponsorship infringement,” said Kronblat. “There is a dedicated zone around the stadium, and within that sphere they are relying on us to make calls on whether something is actionable, and to be the main point of contact to host-city leadership.”
On the one hand, the team is on the lookout for ambush marketing scenarios, often pop-up merchandising that is unauthorized and unlicensed. Or perhaps those flying a false flag of being “FIFA-sponsors.” World Cup energy and the crowd that it attracts are a perfect cover for anyone wanting to get in on the action. At the same time, host cities often have an ecosystem of approved vendors that do business around the stadiums year-round, and it’s important that they be protected.
“As a Mariners fan, I know a lot of the food trucks commonly set up on Occidental,” said Kronblat. “World Cup organizers want to make sure they can continue to sell their goods and take advantage of all the increased foot traffic and that they're not getting hounded, which is great because they’re part of our community and they’re following the rules.”
Any chance his volunteering role gives him access to the games? It turns out the brand protection team stays on task. “We have areas where we can kind of watch and we're obviously taking sneak peeks at TV screens as we walk by them, but we’re mostly on the move so there’s not a lot of watching the game.”
That’s what you call goal-oriented dedication.
Seattle hosts its last World Cup game on July 6. Later this summer Will is joining the personal injury group at Hagens Berman, working on complex cases like wrongful death suits and catastrophic injuries, often related to product liability or medical malpractice. Having worked there briefly, he is excited to make his return. “They have done a lot of really important and impactful work, and I am looking forward to joining the team,” said Kronblat.
But first, soccer.