Jeffrey L Kessler

Jeffrey L. Kessler focuses his practice on all aspects of antitrust/competition, sports law, intellectual property (IP), complex litigation, and government criminal and civil investigations. He has been lead counsel in some of the most complex antitrust, sports law, and intellectual property law cases in the country, including major jury trials, and has represented a number of U.S. and international companies in criminal and civil investigations in the antitrust, trade, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) areas. Jeffrey is also one of the most prominent lawyers in the country regularly engaged in high-profile sports litigation. He has litigated some of the most famous sports-antitrust cases in history, including McNeil v. the NFL, the landmark antitrust jury trial which led to the establishment of free agency in the National Football League (NFL), and Brady v. NFL, which led to the end of the 2011 NFL lockout. Some of Jeffrey’s clients in the sports law area have included the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), the National Basketball Players Association, the Arena Football League (AFL) Players Association, the National Hockey League Players Association, the Major League Baseball Players Association, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), CAA Sports, Wasserman Media Group, SCP Worldwide, MVP Sports, the Women’s National Soccer Team, the NFL Coaches Association, Players, Inc., the Women’s Tennis Benefit Association, Excel Sports, and Adidas. Jeffrey has also represented various classes of NBA, NFL, AFL, and MLS players, the North American Soccer League, the United States Football League, and the Cities of San Diego and Oakland, as well as Alameda County, in various sports law disputes. Jeffrey negotiated the current free agency/salary cap systems in the NFL and NBA, and successfully represented Latrell Sprewell in his controversial suspension arbitration. In the area of NFL discipline, he successfully represented Ray Rice, Tom Brady, and the “Bountygate” players. He also represented pro bono Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee athlete, in his successful arbitration to obtain the right to compete against able-bodied athletes around the world. Jeffrey received a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1977, where he was a Kent Scholar and on the board of editors for the Columbia Law Review. He received a B.A., summa cum laude, from Columbia University in 1975.