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DEPARTMENT PROFILE

Winston & Strawn LLP

Sports Law

3 ranked lawyersBand 2USA - NationwideUSA 2021 View ranking table
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chambers review
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Ranked Lawyers

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What the team is known for

Highly regarded litigation practice also relied upon by big-name clients for ongoing corporate advisory services. Routinely represents premier athletes and players' associations in arbitrations, antitrust cases and personal conduct disputes. Experienced in representing media companies, government entities and sponsors. Also offers high-end advice on noncontentious matters, including employment and marketing agreements. Has capacity to handle major equal employment opportunity and discrimination matters.

Strengths

Sources consider them to be "a very solid firm."

Interviewees report that the team is comprised of "very accomplished sports lawyers."

Others note that they are "experts in sports on the labor side. They're the go-to for that."

Work highlights

Represented the National Soccer League in antitrust litigation against the United States Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer.

Notable practitioners

David Feher is the cochair of the firm's sports law practice. He demonstrates notable strength advising on class actions arising from antitrust claims and employment issues. He also possesses additional expertise handling eligibility disputes.

David Greenspan focuses his sports law practice primarily on contentious mandates. He is particularly well equipped to represent college athletes and leagues in antitrust litigation.

Jeffrey Kessler is regarded as one of the foremost trial lawyers in the sports space, bringing outstanding expertise to labor and antitrust disputes.
"Kessler is a big-time litigator. He is excellent and a fierce advocate." "He's really become a go-to litigator on high-stakes cases."

Department Information

This content is provided by Winston & Strawn LLP.

Overview

Clients include every major U.S. players association, sports franchises and leagues, professional and amateur athletes, IP licensees and licensors, media companies, sports agents, governmental entities, coaches, sponsors, and others in the sports industry.

Litigated some of the most historic/noteworthy sports cases:

  • Representation of US Women’s National Soccer Team in fight for equal pay, including collective bargaining negotiations with US Soccer Federation and proceedings before Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
  • Arbitration and litigation in “Deflategate” case challenging authority of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to discipline NFL player Tom Brady
  • Representation of a historic antitrust suit against NCAA and major college conferences (Jenkins v. NCAA) challenging restrictions on compensation to players
  • Arbitration and litigation challenging the authority of the NFL’s commissioner to retroactively apply the NFL’s new Personal Conduct Policy to Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson
  • Arbitration successfully challenging the NFL commissioner’s second discipline of former NFL player Ray Rice
  • Landmark antitrust suits that led to the current free agency/salary cap systems in the NFL and NBA.

Balanced practice includes representation of leagues, franchises and other owner/operators in sports industry, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, North American Soccer League (NASL), a number of ATP Masters 1000, and a variety of tennis tournaments.

Members

Feher, David G (Head of Department)

Greenspan, David (Head of Department)

Kessler, Jeffrey L

Clients

American Media Productions

Excel Sports Management

FanDuel

Los Angeles Dodgers

Martin Jenkins, Nigel Hayes, Alec James (NCAA class-action a

National Basketball Players Association (NBPA)

National Football League Players Association (NFLPA)

nited States Women’s National Soccer Team

North American Soccer League

WME/IMG

Industries

Sports

Sports Law

Winston & Strawn LLP

website
phone
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Location

35 West Wacker Drive

Chicago

Illinois

USA

IL 60601-9703

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Ranked Lawyers

Chambers Research is conducted by 200 Research Analysts, across 200 jurisdictions and provides nearly 6,000 rankings tables. Annually we collect hundreds of thousands of responses from clients, the majority via in-depth interview. Learn more about our methodology.

USA - Nationwide

Sports Law

David G Feher
Band 3
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David Greenspan
Band 3
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Jeffrey L Kessler
Band 1
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