THE NEGOTIATORS: Hoping dues pay dividends

Before Nick You knew it, he worked the life of a sports agent for two years.

All the information sports agents fret about going out to the public, You dealt with.

A 22-year-old and UC Irvine student at the time, You took a job at a law office. Everywhere he turned, drama hit him in the face. Divorces, child custody battles, lawsuits, domestic abuse cases, even a son suing his ill father for his home.

Things got so ugly he began not knowing who to believe.

“I was sort of a paralegal,” he said, “but I wasn’t certified. If I was certified, I would’ve got more pay.”

The best experience an aspiring lawyer could ask for. The hands-on opportunities during his second year at the office turned You toward something he never imagined pursuing — a sports agency.

The book that swayed You’s interest away from practicing family and civil law was “Winning With Integrity: Getting What You Want Without Selling Your Soul.” Who better to seek advice from than the man behind the book — Leigh Steinberg.

Steinberg’s first sentence — “I never planned on being a sports attorney.” — hooked You in.

Neither did You. It took some time before You sent his cover letter, résumé and references into Leigh Steinberg Enterprises in Newport Beach.

Call it college procrastination. You said to attribute it to his chance of securing one of a handful of internships.

“A long shot,” he said, believing his experience would fall short of what he assumed hundreds of more qualified college students would apply to be a part of the original super sports agent’s team.

Steinberg, who has been in the business since 1975, said thousands of résumés do come in. You stood out in the pile, his background working in a chaotic environment.

Fourteen months later and into his first month of law school, You said he’s on track to earning a paid position at Leigh Steinberg Enterprises. For now, the 25-year-old waits to remove the intern tag and welcome his first paycheck. Tuition at Western State University College of Law in Fullerton costs more than UCI’s.

At least You has his own office, unlike fellow intern Pete Olsen of Fairbanks, Alaska. The 23-year-old is relegated to the reception desk, where he’s learning his time is spent more watching two monitors in the lobby than working with the lucrative jobs.

The patience will pan out, he tells himself. The son of a lawyer and now judge has been here since February, barely missing out on Steinberg’s Super Bowl party in Miami.

“Every intern talks about those parties,” Olsen said.

Olsen’s hoping the work picks up before the upcoming one in Arizona, because he’s itching to pick the brain of the man responsible for negotiating deals for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and quarterback Warren Moon, and representing heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, and campaigning successfully to keep the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics in the Bay Area, and consulting on the films Jerry Maguire, On Any Given Sunday, For Love of the Game and the HBO show Arliss.

Before he can, Olsen said every intern is required to sign a contract that prohibits them from taking what they learned at Leigh Steinberg Enterprises elsewhere.

“That’s the business. It’s a cut-throat industry,” Olsen said. “You see it in Jerry Maguire.”

Olsen has a lot of catching up to do if he plans to have the kind of impact an intern like You has had resulting in more jobs.

You left the mundane faxing, copying, and answering phone chores to other interns. Getting his hands on projects occupied his time.

The first assignment called to set up a baseball camp for Tony Gwynn Jr., the son of Hall of Fame baseball player Tony Gwynn. The camp would take place in Poway at the local Little League. Easy to manage a bunch of 8-16-year-olds for three days, right?

“They gave me just a flier from the year before,” said You, stuck with not much too work with. This is where Steinberg looks to see an intern’s creative side.

In the past, those longing to stay with Steinberg have set some pretty high standards. This added pressure to You’s project, or any other intern receiving a shot to impress.

“We had someone who was ultimately hired here who mocked up a whole cover of Sports Illustrated, with the cover being that he got hired at our firm, and a number of articles telling us about that,” Steinberg said. “Someone else had their whole thing as a part of a football. People come up with clever ways to do these things.”

For You, sticking to the basics is what he cared about. He had a deadline to meet, figuring out all the logistics, the dates, times, and securing those sponsors. In the end, everything came together and ran smoothly.

“It was exciting and really nerve-racking,” said You after raising $8,000. “They threw me into the fire.”

Higher-profile assignments followed. He said he almost negotiated a $500,000 sponsor for Steinberg’s past Super Bowl bash, which Steinberg said involves “3,000 of my closest friends.”

Who got to shadow Steinberg around his party and socialize with all his buddies, elite athletes, entertainers, politicians, coaches and owners? You did.

His favorite guest was Ludacris, the hip-hop artist. You and Ludacris had some things in common.

“He’s nice and short,” said You, a 5-foot-9, 130-pounder, who has trouble gaining weight and admits he wasn’t born with the characteristics of a pro athlete. “I want to say he’s 5-7. He probably weighs more than me.”

You’s already sizing up potential clients.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.