Adam Lupion is the co-chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Labor Management Relations, Sports Law and Employment Litigation Groups. Widely recognized as a leading labor and employment attorney, Adam has been named a “Power Player” by Sports Business Journal, a “Top 50 L&E Litigator” and “Labor & Employment Star” by Benchmark Litigation, as well as numerous other accolades.
A trusted litigator and counselor, Adam has developed a particular expertise representing sports leagues and teams. He has been at the center of many of the most significant labor and employment matters in the sports industry.
For example, Adam helped guide Major League Baseball (MLB) through its most recent work stoppage with players, represented MLB in grievance arbitrations challenging player discipline for violations of the league’s domestic violence and drug policies, successfully defended MLB against discrimination claims brought by Angel Hernandez, and defended MLB and its member Clubs in class and collective actions involving pay practices of minor league players and claims of age discrimination by scouts. In addition, Adam has handled several litigations and arbitrations for the National Hockey League and National Football League, and has advised college athletic conferences and universities across the broad spectrum of labor and employment laws.
Adam also leads the Firm’s MLB Salary Arbitration practice, and is one of the most sought-after practitioners to represent Clubs during contract negotiations and at arbitration hearings against some of the game’s most prominent players.
Adam’s practice extends far beyond the world of sports, as he has extensive experience representing healthcare, higher education, financial services, media and entertainment, telecommunications, energy, retail and hospitality clients in a wide variety of labor and employment law matters in state and federal court, and before administrative agencies.
He has lectured on labor and employment law at Cornell University, New York University School of Law, and Cardozo Law School. He frequently represents the Firm and the Sports Law Group on panel discussions and at career seminars for current and prospective lawyers.
Education
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New York University School of Law, J.D.
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Cornell University School of Industrial & Labor Relations, B.S.
Admissions & Qualifications
- New York
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, New York, Eastern District
- U.S. District Court, New York, Southern District
- U.S. District Court, Colorado
Memberships
New York City Bar
Awards & Recognition
Sports Business Journal Power Players: Outside Counsel 2021
Benchmark Litigation: Top 50 L&E Litigator 2024
New York Super Lawyers 2023-2024
Benchmark Litigation Labor & Employment Stars 2019, 2024-2025
Acritas Star Lawyer 2019-2021
The Legal 500 United States: Labor & Employment: Labor & Employment Litigation 2015-2018
The Legal 500 United States: Labor & Employment: Disputes (including Collective Actions): Defense 2019-2021
The Legal 500 United States: Labor Management Relations 2020-2021, 2023-2024
The Legal 500 United States: Industry Focus: Sports 2018
Law360 Rising Star 2014
Matters
Representative Matters
- Major League Baseball in the labor dispute with the Major League Baseball Players Association and the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement.
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in connection with a response to an organizing drive and petition for election seeking to unionize graduate students.
- Montefiore Medical Center and the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes in connection with the New York State Nurses Association strike involving more than 7,000 nurses.
- Benedict et. al v. Manfred et. al in a putative class and collective action against MLB and its member Clubs brought on behalf of baseball scouts alleging claims of age discrimination.
- Johnson v. NCAA (3d Cir.) authored an amicus brief on behalf of the American Council on Education (ACE) in support of the NCAA’s position that college athletes should not be deemed to be employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.
- Angel Hernandez v. Major League Baseball (2d Cir. and S.D.N.Y.) in successfully defending against race and national origin discrimination claims brought by a current Major League umpire.
- Major League Baseball in a grievance arbitration challenging player discipline for domestic violence and sexual assault, which resulted in the longest suspension for a player in MLB history.
- Boogaard et al. v. National Hockey League (7th Cir. and N.D.Il.) in the complete dismissal of wrongful death claims brought by the estate of Derek Boogaard, a former player for the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild.
- In re National Hockey League Players' Concussion Injury Litigation (D. Minn.), a multidistrict litigation brought by retired NHL players who allege to suffer from the effects of concussions.
- Alex Rodriguez v. Major League Baseball et al. in playing a leading role on the trial team that defended the grievance arbitration and related litigation challenging the suspension of then-New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
- Senne et al. v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball et al. (N.D.Cal.) in a class and collective action lawsuit brought on behalf of current and former minor league players who alleged minimum wage and overtime violations.
- Wyckoff et al. v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball et al. (S.D.N.Y.) in obtaining a complete dismissal of the class and collective action complaint brought on behalf of baseball scouts.
- Salary arbitration proceedings against players such as Max Fried, Kyle Tucker, Austin Riley, Josh Donaldson, Marcus Stroman, Dansby Swanson, and numerous other players.