JEFFREY KESSLER '75: ANTITRUST ATTORNEY FINDS NICHE IN SPORTS CONTINUED [ 2 OF 2 ]

The self-described pinnacle of his sports litigation career, however, occurred during the Freeman McNeil v. National Football League case in 1992. After the NFL’s player association lost an antitrust case in 1989, Kessler was retained the next day by Gene Upshaw, president of the NFLPA, to represent his union. “Once I met with Jeffrey and noticed how quick and how smart he was, I knew we had the right guy,” says Upshaw, former Oakland Raiders offensive lineman and an NFL Hall-of-Famer. “He changed the sport. The NFL was the last major league to get free agency, but once he helped establish it, we’ve had nothing but labor peace. He won’t rest until the job is done, and he always puts the best interest of the players first, not caring who gets the credit.”

The resulting McNeil case — in which Kessler temporarily decertified the NFLPA so the players could have antitrust rights — struck down the restriction of player movement in the league. A settlement in the class action case featuring Reggie White (then-star of the Philadelphia Eagles) a few years later established the NFL’s current free agency and salary cap system and helped create the unprecedented level of parity that today allows a team like the New England Patriots to capture a Super Bowl title just a year after finishing in last place in its division.

“After the Reggie White case and the formation of the free agency system, the players reformed their union, and my firm remains their counsel,” Kessler says. “Thanks to the court’s decision, football now has the best player-owner labor relationship of all the major sports.”

Kessler was back in the headlines when he was the lead negotiator in the movement to decertify the basketball players’ union in order to combat the 1998 lockout that eventually cost the league half a season. Kessler and union president Patrick Ewing tirelessly worked to set up the league’s current collective bargaining agreement, and eventually Kessler’s efforts in court got the players back on the court, saving what remained of the 1998–99 season.

“Jeffrey is the principal outside council for our union and one of the driving forces behind the 1998 compromise that has kept our league healthy,” said NBPA President Billy Hunter, who began working with Kessler when he took leadership of the union in 1995. “He is a hard worker and extremely bright, and has all the virtues you’re looking for in someone to make sure that the players get what they deserve.”

Kessler also defended then-Golden State Warrior Latrell Sprewell, who was suspended by the league for choking his coach, P. J. Carlesimo, during the 1997–98 season. Kessler was able to shorten Sprewell’s suspension and restore more than $16 million of his contract. “The NBA vilified all involved with the case, so I’m not so popular with the league office these days, but it was the right thing to do,” Kessler says.

Although labor peace prevails in the NBA and NFL, Major League Baseball approached the precipice of a work stoppage in August before an agreement was reached only hours before a strike deadline set by the union. “I think it was a fair settlement for both sides,” Kessler says of the baseball agreement, which incorporates a luxury tax for the first time and sets parameters for revenue sharing among teams. “The players avoided giving back many of the gains they achieved in the last 20 years, while the owners gained some important conceptual changes in terms of revenue sharing and a salary tax, items that were clearly high on their agenda. Hopefully, now the two sides can go about building the industry together.”

Though he was not directly involved in the baseball negotiations, Kessler is representing the 14 former minority owners of the Montreal Expos who have filed suit claiming that Major League Baseball conspired to get them to sell their share of the team in order to then contract it.

Kessler recently sued the NCAA on behalf of the National Invitation Tournament in its belief that the larger postseason basketball tournament is trying to eliminate its New York-based counterpart; set up the Arena Football League’s players association; represented disgruntled wide receiver Terry Glenn in a grievance against his former team, the New England Patriots; and was the chief attorney for the city of Oakland when it tried to stop Al Davis from moving the Raiders to Los Angeles. Again.

An active alumnus who has served on the board of the College Alumni Association, Kessler also has managed to stay a sports fan, especially of the Knicks and football Giants, despite often being exposed to the gritty, money-centered side of the industry.

“I still love the games, and I wouldn’t ever play favorites while in the courtroom,” he says with a laugh. “I would have done my best even if I had been representing the Miami Heat during its fight with the Knicks in the playoffs back in 1997 that led to players unsuccessfully appealing their suspensions.

“Actually,” he continues, somewhat wistfully, “I was representing the Knicks during that incident, and we came within a whisker of getting the suspensions overturned.”

While acknowledging the unfortunate reality that many families are being priced out of attending professional sports events, Kessler disputes the commonly held notion that the leagues and the players are greedier today than they were generations ago during sports’ supposed golden age.

“Sports, which is entertainment, first and foremost, has always been about money. It’s just that now it’s reported and scrutinized because of the explosion in media,” Kessler says. “It’s always been a business, and it’s certainly not immune to the inflationary pressures of society, but in comparison to other things — like a Broadway show, for example — it’s still affordable and a pretty good deal.”

Despite his obvious qualifications, Kessler claims that he has never been tempted to run a players union or immerse himself full-time in the world of sports law, but he offers some advice for students interested in the field: “I’d recommend that he or she dedicate themselves to becoming a very fine lawyer in some area,” Kessler says. “There’s no set route for entering the sports world — for me, it was antitrust — but obtaining an area of expertise is probably the best way to do it.”

“Give me a jury trial — that’s where I’m at my best,” says Kessler, who lives in Manhattan with his wife, Regina Dessoff ’76 Barnard. They have two children, Andrew, a senior at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., and Leora, a senior at Fieldston. “That’s where I feel like I can best protect the rights of individuals, and that includes making sure that things are as fair as possible in the sports world.”



Jonathan Lemire '01 is a frequent contributor to Columbia College Today and a staff reporter for The New York Daily News.

[ home ]