Winston Lawyer Named as 2025 Law360 MVPs

Winston partner Jeffrey Kessler merited inclusion on Law360’s 2025 MVPs list. As described by Law360, this year’s winners “have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.”

Co-executive Chairman Jeffrey Kessler was named as a Competition/Antitrust MVP. Notably, Jeffrey led the Winston team representing a class of elite swimmers in a groundbreaking antitrust case against World Aquatics (WA). His team secured a ruling from the Ninth Circuit reviving antitrust claims brought on behalf of professional swimmers against WA, the international body that oversees Olympic eligibility and governs national federations such as USA Swimming. The court found that the swimmers and International Swimming League, which made a push starting in 2017 to stage its own professional swim meets, had raised triable issues concerning whether World Aquatics had arranged a “group boycott by preventing member federations and swimmers from doing business with ISL without risking draconian sanctions.” The successful appeal then led to a groundbreaking class action settlement in which the swimmers will receive more than one hundred per cent of their damages and injunctive relief to permanently open up the professional swimming  market to competition and the prospect of higher compensation.

Read Jeffrey’s Competition/Antitrust MVP interview.

See the full list of Law360’s 2025 MVP winners here.