Sydney Hargrove

Sydney litigates complex, high-stakes disputes, partnering with clients to mitigate risk and maximize outcomes. She handles complex litigation and business matters across various industries, with a focus on higher education, sports, and entertainment. Sydney advises her clients on their most sensitive issues including class actions, complex torts, employment discrimination claims, intellectual property rights, government investigations, consumer deception claims, and antitrust matters. Her work spans all stages of complex civil litigation — from dispositive motions practice to discovery, trial, and appeals.

Sydney previously served as a judicial law clerk for the Chief Judge of the D.C. Court of Appeals, the Hon. Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, and the Hon. Lynn Leibovitz of the D.C. Superior Court. Before joining Taft, she developed her acumen in strategic solutions and dispute resolution at different international law firms. She earned her J.D. from UCLA School of Law, where she served as Articles Editor for the UCLA Law Review.

Before law school, Sydney supported Morgan Stanley’s Fixed Income Trading Desk, where she managed trade operations, mitigated risk, and served as a key liaison between the business unit and regulators, including FINRA and the Federal Reserve.

• Representing higher education institutions in cases involving tenure denials, wrongful termination, faculty or student affairs, and discrimination claims.
• Representing student-athletes in civil litigation involving Division I eligibility and NIL rights.
• Representing and advising professional and amateur athletes in commercial contracts, including intellectual property and NIL agreements with film, television, and digital media companies studios.
• Representing national sports associations and NGBs in multi-plaintiff actions seeking to impose tort liability for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, concussions, and other traumatic brain injuries sustained in college and Olympic sports.
• Represented a large social technology company in civil litigation, including a federal bench trial and FTC administrative proceeding, related to the proposed acquisition of a virtual reality studio.
• Represented a global digital payment technology company in civil litigation alleging RICO and TVPRA violations related to the electronic payments industry.
• Represented a university-based regional health system in a class action asserting invasion of privacy and wiretapping claims related to website analytics.