Seaver College Professor Alicia Jessop Awarded Prestigious American Bar Foundation Fellowship

Alicia Jessop, an associate professor of sport administration at Seaver College, was recently named an American Bar Foundation (ABF) Fellow—an invitation-only distinction earned by just 1 percent of all licensed attorneys in the United States.
“It’s a huge honor to be named an ABF Fellow,“ says Jessop. "When you look at the statistical probability of being accepted as a fellow, it is a pretty narrow road. This is not something I expected, and I’m very thankful to be a part of this esteemed organization.”
The ABF Fellows program is a global honor society that recognizes top attorneys, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars from around the world. In order to be considered as a potential fellow, individuals must demonstrate “outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession” throughout their career and be nominated by an existing member. Nominees are then voted upon by the ABF board of directors.
Jessop, who earned her juris doctor from Chapman University in 2009, is a prominent sports lawyer dedicated to advocating on behalf of student-athletes and their legal rights. She has prepared an amicus brief for the United States Supreme Court regarding the 2021 NCAA v. Alston decision and collaborated with US senators to draft the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act.
Additionally, Jessop has served as a consultant for the National Basketball Players Association and the Alliance of American Football—a startup professional football league. She’s published 10 legal studies in top-tier law reviews, drafted two book chapters, and is a regular contributor to popular outlets such as The Athletic and The Washington Post.
“Whenever you’re a scholar, part of your success hinges on your ability to engage with other top thought leaders in your space,” says Jessop. “The ABF Fellowship opens up a door for me to meet more people and hopefully forge new collaborations.”
Jessop reports that with this new distinction she will continue researching sports law and defending student-athletes. Her future work will contribute to ABF’s robust legal scholarship, which focuses on the most pressing legal matters of the day—such as the ongoing NCAA debacle over name, image, and likeness regulations.
A tenured professor at Pepperdine University, Jessop’s studies and expertise play a key role in the campus community. She serves as the NCAA faculty athletics representative, acts as the academic director for the Institute for Entertainment, Media, and Sports, and has developed five new courses focused on sport communication for Seaver College students.
“Throughout my entire career, I’ve committed to let ethics fully guide my journey every day,” says Jessop. “I’m grateful to work at a place like Pepperdine where ethics and morality are the ethos of what we do . . . I’ve taken the compass that has guided my legal career into the classroom in an attempt to develop future sport industry leaders who are exceptional and brilliant and who never carve corners around ethics and morality.”