James Nussbaum is Partner at, Church Church Hittle + Antrim . He focuses his practice on sports and higher education law and helps institutional clients manage difficult matters involving students, faculty, and staff members. In his time as in-house counsel to a university, James was the primary athletics attorney system-wide and provided legal advice on matters such as Title IX, name, image, and likeness, and potential major NCAA infractions cases. James advises on and conducts high-profile investigations with an eye on political, public relations, and financial implications, including those related to Title IX, coach and student-athlete misconduct, and discrimination. James advises on a wide variety of student and employee matters including Title VII, FMLA, ADA, Title IX, Equal Pay Act, and Section 1983 and constitutional claims. He also proactively helps his clients through compliance assessments and policy and procedure reviews.
James earned his undergraduate degree in Economics and Political Science from Northwestern University and his J.D., cum laude, from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. James played football at Northwestern, where he was Academic All-Big Ten his junior and senior seasons. Prior to entering law school, James was a trade desk analyst at Performance Trust in Chicago.
LaKeisha Marsh serves as the chair of Akerman LLP’s Government Affairs and Public Policy Practice Group. She leads a bipartisan team of professionals providing strategic counsel on policy and regulatory issues in the United States. With a comprehensive legal background serving the higher education sector, including as an NCAA staff member, LaKeisha also serves as the chair of Akerman’s Higher Education and Collegiate Athletics Practice. She represents colleges, universities, and related institutions on federal and state regulatory compliance, accreditation, state licensure, institutional governance, and collegiate sports and NCAA compliance-related matters. She has structured and executed a broad range of transactional, restructuring, finance, and corporate governance matters for educational institutions.
She regularly advises clients on issues such as Title IV, Title IX compliance including complaints and investigations, student discipline, student accommodations, FERPA, Clery Act and collegiate athletic issues, including name, image, and likeness (NIL). She brings vast working experience and knowledge of the laws, regulations and informal guidance that together govern institutional participation Title IV federal student aid programs. She has managed all facets of student litigation, represented an institution when dealing with the U.S. Department of Education, and federal and state cases.
Advocating on behalf of clients before federal, state, and local governments and agencies, LaKeisha counsels her national clients on various legislation. She advises clients on Small Business Administration (SBA) matters, including PPP applications, eligibility, affiliation, good faith certification, and caps for corporate organizations. She provides assistance to higher education clients with obtaining federal funds and the development of policies and procedures for the use and distribution of federal funds.
In addition to her expansive practice, LaKeisha previously served as an executive at an entrepreneurial, not-for-profit educational system, where she managed the legal department responsible for corporate governance, compliance, transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and litigation management.
She frequently speaks on higher education topics including Title IX, sexual misconduct and student-athletes, collegiate athletics, and transgender issues. As a former member of the NCAA staff, in the Academic and Membership Affairs department (formerly Membership Services), LaKeisha has firsthand knowledge of the NCAA bylaws and rules for Division I, II, and III athletics. She has handled NCAA certification, compliance reviews, infractions and appeals, student-athlete eligibility and waivers, and Title IX and gender equality matters.