Stacey R. Eisenstein
Partner
seisenstein@akingump.com
Areas of Focus
- Labor Relations Strategic Advice & Counseling
- Labor & Employment
- Employment Discrimination/Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Advocacy
- Cybersecurity, Privacy & Data Protection
- Workplace Investigations, Civil Rights Audits & DEI Practices Advice
- Pension & Benefits Strategy
- Sports
Biography
- Litigates and advises clients on complex labor and employment matters, with a focus on the sports industry.
- Handles high-profile litigation and arbitrations.
- Handles benefits and other Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) disputes
Stacey regularly represents employers in high-profile and significant arbitrations involving contract and labor disputes.
Stacey’s clients include employers in the entertainment and professional sports industries. She counsels them on a variety of employment-related matters, including:
- Collective bargaining agreements
- Employment agreements and policies
- Employee benefits
- Leave and disability laws
- Contract disputes
- Discrimination and harassment issues
- Wage and hour matters.
Stacey is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Master of Professional Studies in Sports Industry Management Program, where she teaches sports law and negotiation.
Representative Work
- Defeated several claims by professional athletes seeking to overturn team and league discipline in arbitrations and federal courts.
- Negotiated and drafted a collective bargaining agreement for a professional sports league.
- Successfully defended a professional sports league in federal court to obtain summary judgment in a player’s challenge to an arbitration award upholding his suspension for violation of the league’s anti-doping policy.
- Successfully defended a professional sports league in ERISA claims brought by former players seeking to overturn disability benefit determinations.
- Obtained a dismissal of a player’s claim that his team’s medical staff had failed to provide adequate warning of his medical condition.
EducationJ.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 2000
B.A., Emory University, 1995
J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 2000
B.A., Emory University, 1995
Bar AdmissionsDistrict of Columbia
Maryland
District of Columbia
Maryland
Recognitions
- The National Law Journal, Sports Law Trailblazers, 2022.
- The National Law Journal, Employment Law Trailblazers, 2022.
- Sports Business Journal, Power Players, 2021.
- The Legal 500 US, Labor and Employment, 2017 and 2018; Labor and Employment Disputes (including Collective Actions): Defense, 2019-2022; Sport, 2021.
- Law360, Employment Practice of the Year, 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2016.
- Law360, Sports Practice of the Year, 2016.
- Washingtonian, Top Lawyer for Employment Defense, 2018 and 2020.
Affiliations and Public Service
- Adjunct professor, Georgetown University’s Master of Professional Studies in Sports Industry Management Program, teaching sports law, contracts and negotiation.
- Member, Sports Lawyer Association.
