Partner – Boston
T 617.573.5866
Janet.Judge@hklaw.com
Related Practices: Education Labor, Employment and Benefits Civil Rights, Discrimination and
Retaliation
Janet P. Judge is a higher education and employment law attorney who focuses her practice in the
area of sports and civil rights law. Based in Boston, she has more than 30 years of experience in
higher education, intercollegiate sports, and labor and employment law.
Ms. Judge is well-versed in civil rights compliance matters, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and
in-house program reviews, organization, employee and student investigations, strategic program
development, and NCAA infraction investigations and resolutions. In addition, she has handled
student-athlete eligibility issues, social media education, Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act
(EADA) compliance, contract negotiation and pay equity analysis. Ms. Judge also handles
representation and preventive strategies regarding sexual misconduct, hazing, academic fraud,
student-athlete discipline and employment issues.
Ms. Judge is highly knowledgeable on Title IX, and is a frequent speaker and instructor on the
issue. She recently has served as an appointed member of the University of Tennessee Special
Independent Commission on Title IX Resources and Programs, and as a member of the American
Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Task Force on College Due Process Rights and Victim
Protections. In addition, she currently serves on the NCAA Board of Governors’ Commission to Combat
Campus Sexual Violence. Ms. Judge has addressed the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics
on the topic of gender equity in athletics and was hired by the NCAA to draft the successful amicus
brief for the association in the University of California-Davis case. She is an online instructor
of the Title IX coordinator course for the National Association of College and University Attorneys
(NACUA). Ms. Judge also has taught Sports Law at the University of Maine School of Law.
Ms. Judge has conducted workshops at more than 500 NCAA Division I, II and III institutions,
athletic conferences and sport coaches’ associations. She has been a speaker before the American
Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), National Association of College and
University Business Officers (NACUBO), NCAA, National Association of Collegiate Directors of
Athletics (NACDA) and NACUA, among others.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Judge was founder and president of Sports Law Associates
LLC, where she worked with college and university presidents, general counsel and athletic
administrators to assess, reduce and remedy areas of risk in athletics programs. In 2017, U.S. News
& World Report ranked Sports Law Associates LLC, among the top-nine sports law firms nationally.
At Harvard University, Ms. Judge was a three-sport athlete in soccer, basketball, and track and
field. She coached soccer and basketball at Simmons College in Boston while attending law school.
Upon graduation, Ms. Judge worked at Harvard in a number of roles, including assistant director of
athletics with sport oversight and NCAA compliance responsibilities, liaison to the Alumni
Relations Office, vice-chair of the Department of Athletics Oversight Committee, and as a member of
Harvard’s NCAA Division I Athletics Certification Steering Committee and the Athletic Director’s
Advisory Council. Ms. Judge also clerked for the Honorable Norman H. Stahl in the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the First Circuit and spent 13 years as a labor and employment law litigator.
Honors & Awards
The Best Lawyers in America guide, Employment Law – Management, Sports Law, 2006-2017
Guiding Woman in Sport Award, SHAPE America, 2017
Administrator of the Year for Athletic Organizations, Women Leaders in College Sports, 2011
First Decade Award, National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), 2014
Order of the Coif
Publications
Title IX and Athletics, College and University Law Manual, 2012
NCAA Manual on Gender Equity, National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2010
Speaking Engagements
Practical Tips to Navigate (and Hopefully Avoid) a Federal Audit of Your Institution’s Athletic
Program, National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) Annual Conference,
Chicago, Ill., 2017
Sports Discussion Forum, NACUA Annual Conference, Chicago, Ill., 2017
Title IX at 45: What Every Athletics Business Manager Should Know, College Athletic Business
Managers Association, National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Annual
Conference, Orlando, Fla., 2017
Athletics and Title IX: Grappling with the Practical Challenges of Compliance, NACUA Seminar,
Seattle, Wash., 2017
Managing Risk in Intercollegiate Sports, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Seminar,
Fayetteville and Elizabeth City, N.C., 2017
Title IX at 45: An Overview of Key Issues Impacting Campuses, NCAA Inclusion Forum, Providence,
R.I., 2017
The Power of Autonomy: What the Future Holds, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Sports
Symposium, NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, Phoenix, Ariz., 2017
Managing Risk in Intercollegiate Athletics, Great Northeast Athletic Conference Seminar, Anna
Maria College, Paxton, Mass., 2016
Athletics: Student Conduct and Other Hot Topics, National Association of College and University
Attorneys, 2017
Athletics and Sexual Assault: Education, Prevention, Response and Remediation, American
Association of State Colleges and Universities Seminar, Georgetown, Md., 2016
Litigation in Sports, Manage the Risk, Collegiate Sports Summit, Santa Monica, Calif., 2016
Title IX and Athletics: Participation, Financial Aid and Equal Treatment, NCAA Inclusion Forum, Indianapolis, Ind., 2016
Role of Title IX Coordinators in Athletic Compliance, New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic
Conference Seminar, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass., 2015
Recent Developments in the Law of Sexual Harassment, NCAA Inclusion Forum, Orlando, Fla.,
2014 Title IX: Treatment and Retaliation, NCAA Inclusion Forum, Orlando, Fla., 2014
Equitable Pay, Performance Evaluations and Staff Treatment, NCAA Convention, Grapevine, Texas, 2013
Implications of the Freeh Report, Lessons Learned and Implications for Your Campus, Western
Association of College and University Business Officers (WACUBO) Seminar, Anchorage, Alaska,
2013
Memberships
HazingPrevention.Org, Board Member, 2015-2017
USA Ultimate, Board Member, 2016-2017
National Association of College and University Attorneys, 2004-2017
American Bar Association, Member, 2015-2017
Boston Bar Association, Member, 1994-2017
Maine Bar Association, Member, 1994-2017
Education
Boston University School of Law, J.D., cum laude
Harvard University, A.B., Government
Bar Admissions
Maine
Massachusetts
Court Admissions
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Maine Supreme Judicial Court
U.S. District Court for the District of Maine
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