Jeffrey Kessler Continues to Take on Sports’ Most Powerful Interests

Jeffrey Kessler, Co-chair of Winston & Strawn’s Sports Law Practice, was profiled in the March 31, 2016, Reuters article titled “From NFL to Women’s Soccer, Lawyer Is Thorn in Side of Sports Leagues.”

Mr. Kessler has garnered recent media attention for filing an action with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of five United States Women’s National Soccer Team members accusing the United States Soccer Federation of wage discrimination.

Over the past three decades, Mr. Kessler has taken on all four major U.S. professional sports leagues, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the Olympic Games, among others, handling some of the most famous cases in sports.

“He’s certainly caused a lot of sleepless nights for a lot of people,” said Gary Roberts, a sports law professor and dean emeritus at Indiana University’s law school. “In virtually all of his lawsuits, he is challenging something that at one time not long before that, everyone just took for granted.”

Mr. Kessler sees a common theme among his work.

“I have consistently been involved in representing athletes in their struggle against owners that don’t recognize their rights and economic worth,” he said.