Professionals

Jeanifer Parsigian

Partner

Overview
Experience
Credentials
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An accomplished antitrust, sports, and commercial litigator, Jeanifer concentrates her practice on civil antitrust litigation with a particular focus in mixed issues of antitrust and intellectual property law, and class actions. She represents clients in some of the most complex antitrust, sports, and intellectual property disputes in the country at the trial and appellate levels. She has represented clients in high-profile matters such as the landmark Supreme Court decision against the NCAA on behalf of classes of D-I college athletes and Women’s National Soccer Team’s gender discrimination litigation. Jeanifer has been recognized by top ranking publications including Chambers USA, Legal 500 US, SuperLawyers, and Law360. Most recently, she was named in Global Competition Review’s 2024 “40 Under 40” honor roll.

Jeanifer’s practice focuses on all aspects of antitrust/competition, sports law, intellectual property, and complex litigation. She regularly represents major U.S. and multinational corporations in connection with a wide array of federal and state antitrust and competition issues, including monopolization, price fixing, wage fixing, merger enforcement, group boycotts, exclusive dealing, tying, price discrimination, unfair competition, and mixed issues of antitrust and intellectual property law relating to Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) obligations, standard-setting, patent licensing, and patent misuse. Jeanifer represents clients across multiple industries, including sports and entertainment, financial services, technology, food and beverage, and retail.

In addition to Jeanifer’s antitrust experience, she has also represented clients facing patent infringement, employment discrimination claims, and consumer fraud and other business tort and breach of contract claims. She also has experience in alternative dispute resolution, including commercial arbitration and mediation.

She has been recognized for obtaining critical wins for her clients whether at trial, on appeal, or by obtaining complete dismissals. Recently, she successfully defended PetIQ in a private merger challenge, where she argued an appeal to the Ninth Circuit and successfully secured a dismissal of the complaint. Jeanifer also has a major role in Winston’s renowned sports practice, successfully trying antitrust claims to a landmark win for college athletes against the NCAA upheld by the Supreme Court, and in a high-stakes, high-profile gender discrimination lawsuit on behalf of the Women’s National Soccer Team in their pursuit of equal pay.

In February 2022, Jeanifer was among the team of lawyers named as runners-up for “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer for their representation of current and former members of the U.S. Women’s National Team in their landmark settlement of the equal pay portion of their lawsuit seeking to equalize pay and working conditions between the men’s and women’s U.S. national soccer teams. Jeanifer was also named one of Law360’s Sports & Betting “Rising Stars” of 2022 and named as a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” by The Recorder for 2022.

Key Matters

Federal Litigation Matters:

House v. NCAA: On behalf of putative classes of student-athletes, the firm is fighting the NCAA for antitrust violations seeking prior damages for restraints on the use of student-athlete names, images, and likenesses. The Winston team beat a motion to dismiss in July 2021.
Guden v. Stanford University: Serving as co-lead plaintiff counsel, filed an action seeking a preliminary injunction to stop Stanford University from terminating eight of its varsity sports teams. As a result of the lawsuit and pending preliminary injunction motion, Stanford announced the reinstatement of all eight eliminated teams. The action was withdrawn as the reinstatement of the teams by Stanford was a complete and total victory in May 2021.
Jenkins v. NCAA and Alston v. NCAA et al.: Representation of classes of college athletes in antitrust in antitrust trial striking down anticompetitive NCAA rules.
Morgan vs. USSF: Representation of a class of Women’s National Team soccer players in gender discrimination litigation against the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Preston Hollow Capital LLC v. Nuveen LLC: Representation of global investment manager accused of group boycott claims under the Sherman Act and New York Donnelly Act and tortious interference with prospective business in claims.
B&R Supermarket v. Visa et al.: Representation of defendant Discover Financial Services in a putative class action alleging violation of federal and state antitrust laws in connection with chip card technology.
Med Vets Inc. et al. v. VIP Petcare Holdings Inc. et al.: Representation of PetIQ, a leading company in the pet medicine industry, in a private antitrust merger suit, and successfully obtained full dismissal with prejudice and affirmance at the 9th Circuit.
Continental vs. Avanci et al.: Representation of a wireless connectivity patent portfolio company defending against high-profile monopolization, conspiracy, unfair competition, and breach of contract claims relating to purported FRAND obligations and joint licensing conduct.
Super Slam, Ltd. v. ATP Tour, Inc.: Representation of Owner/organizer of Madrid Open tennis tournament in dispute with Association of Tennis Professionals.
Ohio v. American Express: Representation of Discover Financial Services in Second Circuit and Supreme Court appeals with major industry implications.
MegaFon v. HPE: Representation of MegaFon, a major telecom operator in the Russian federation, in fraud claims relating to failure of key systems upgrade.
Global Cartel Defense: Representation of a major electronics manufacturer in multidistrict, putative class actions alleging conspiracies to fix prices of optical disk drives, lithium ion batteries, and capacitors.
In re Keurig Green Mountain Single-Serve Coffee Antitrust Litigation: Representation of TreeHouse Foods, Inc., Bay Valley Foods, LLC, and Sturm Foods, Inc. in their antitrust lawsuit against Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. alleging anticompetitive exclusive dealing, conspiracy, monopolization, unfair competition, tying, anticompetitive product redesign, patent misuse, and sham litigation claims.

Other Relevant Experience:

Representation of a former pharmaceutical executive in an investigation of alleged violations of Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act
Representation of defendant in an arbitration matter alleging breach of contract and antitrust monopolization claims based on alleged abuse of intellectual property rights
Representation of plaintiff SunLink Corporation in a contract dispute over solar construction development
Representation of defendant Kenwood Investments No. 2, LLC in California court in a motion to compel arbitration in complex contract dispute over development of tribal gaming casino

Pro Bono:

Equal Rights Amendment: Involved in the firm’s efforts to assist and support the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
1983 Civil Rights litigation: Representation of a California inmate in civil rights claim against Richmond Police Department for assault during arrest. Conducted depositions of six police officers involved and leveraged effective discovery to five-figure settlement for client.
Board of Immigration Appeals matter: Representation of a Cameroonian immigrant in a successful appeal of an order denying withholding of removal based on threat of persecution based on sexual orientation.

Recent Experience

Secured Landmark Equal-Pay Settlement for Current and Former USWNT Members

Capabilities

Litigation/Trials

Antitrust/Competition

Technology Antitrust

Commercial Litigation & Disputes

Class Actions & Group Litigation

Advertising Litigation

Antitrust Transactions

Sports

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Key Matters

Federal Litigation Matters:

House v. NCAA: On behalf of putative classes of student-athletes, the firm is fighting the NCAA for antitrust violations seeking prior damages for restraints on the use of student-athlete names, images, and likenesses. The Winston team beat a motion to dismiss in July 2021.
Guden v. Stanford University: Serving as co-lead plaintiff counsel, filed an action seeking a preliminary injunction to stop Stanford University from terminating eight of its varsity sports teams. As a result of the lawsuit and pending preliminary injunction motion, Stanford announced the reinstatement of all eight eliminated teams. The action was withdrawn as the reinstatement of the teams by Stanford was a complete and total victory in May 2021.
Jenkins v. NCAA and Alston v. NCAA et al.: Representation of classes of college athletes in antitrust in antitrust trial striking down anticompetitive NCAA rules.
Morgan vs. USSF: Representation of a class of Women’s National Team soccer players in gender discrimination litigation against the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Preston Hollow Capital LLC v. Nuveen LLC: Representation of global investment manager accused of group boycott claims under the Sherman Act and New York Donnelly Act and tortious interference with prospective business in claims.
B&R Supermarket v. Visa et al.: Representation of defendant Discover Financial Services in a putative class action alleging violation of federal and state antitrust laws in connection with chip card technology.
Med Vets Inc. et al. v. VIP Petcare Holdings Inc. et al.: Representation of PetIQ, a leading company in the pet medicine industry, in a private antitrust merger suit, and successfully obtained full dismissal with prejudice and affirmance at the 9th Circuit.
Continental vs. Avanci et al.: Representation of a wireless connectivity patent portfolio company defending against high-profile monopolization, conspiracy, unfair competition, and breach of contract claims relating to purported FRAND obligations and joint licensing conduct.
Super Slam, Ltd. v. ATP Tour, Inc.: Representation of Owner/organizer of Madrid Open tennis tournament in dispute with Association of Tennis Professionals.
Ohio v. American Express: Representation of Discover Financial Services in Second Circuit and Supreme Court appeals with major industry implications.
MegaFon v. HPE: Representation of MegaFon, a major telecom operator in the Russian federation, in fraud claims relating to failure of key systems upgrade.
Global Cartel Defense: Representation of a major electronics manufacturer in multidistrict, putative class actions alleging conspiracies to fix prices of optical disk drives, lithium ion batteries, and capacitors.
In re Keurig Green Mountain Single-Serve Coffee Antitrust Litigation: Representation of TreeHouse Foods, Inc., Bay Valley Foods, LLC, and Sturm Foods, Inc. in their antitrust lawsuit against Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. alleging anticompetitive exclusive dealing, conspiracy, monopolization, unfair competition, tying, anticompetitive product redesign, patent misuse, and sham litigation claims.

Other Relevant Experience:

Representation of a former pharmaceutical executive in an investigation of alleged violations of Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act
Representation of defendant in an arbitration matter alleging breach of contract and antitrust monopolization claims based on alleged abuse of intellectual property rights
Representation of plaintiff SunLink Corporation in a contract dispute over solar construction development
Representation of defendant Kenwood Investments No. 2, LLC in California court in a motion to compel arbitration in complex contract dispute over development of tribal gaming casino

Pro Bono:

Equal Rights Amendment: Involved in the firm’s efforts to assist and support the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
1983 Civil Rights litigation: Representation of a California inmate in civil rights claim against Richmond Police Department for assault during arrest. Conducted depositions of six police officers involved and leveraged effective discovery to five-figure settlement for client.
Board of Immigration Appeals matter: Representation of a Cameroonian immigrant in a successful appeal of an order denying withholding of removal based on threat of persecution based on sexual orientation.