On a recent video call regarding a sports matter, Proskauer attorney Elise Bloom was struck by the composition of the participants. Five of seven were women.
“And we were talking about some very high-level issues,” said Bloom, who works with leagues and teams on employment matters as co-head of the firm’s class and collective actions group. “You’ve just seen an influx of women on the operations side and on the legal side around sports.”
Bloom recalls a time when she often was the only female attorney in a room. After joining Proskauer in 2006, she began attending social functions around big sporting events, invited at the behest of Howie Ganz, the well-regarded co-head of the firm’s sports law group. Ganz and his wife would pick her up on their way so the three of them could arrive together.
“He found a way for me to enter the room and meet people and be part of the conversations that were going on,” Bloom said. “It took a while for me to establish my credibility, but he opened that door for me. He would involve me in the conversations. And it was sort of that kind of mentorship that can really make a difference in somebody’s development.”
Bloom’s sports work has included representation of the NFL, NBA, MLB and MLS. She is lead counsel in MLB’s defense of a wage and hour class-action lawsuit brought by minor league players, a case that could have far-ranging implications.
Reproduced with permission. Originally published September 2021, "Elise Bloom, Proskauer" Sports Business Journal.