In addition to serving as the firm’s Chief Diversity Officer, Robert L. Clayton focuses his practice in the areas of labor management relations, employment, sports, education, regulatory compliance and government affairs. Mr. Clayton serves as a trusted advisor to technology and energy companies on regulatory and legal matters in privacy and data protection. He routinely counsels clients in policy development and regulatory compliance under HIPAA and FERPA, COPPA with a focus on cloud provider services. His government affairs practice guides clients in understanding the regulatory framework and procurement policies of federal and state agencies with oversight for secondary and higher education and healthcare. Mr. Clayton provides expert advice on the impact of proposed policy changes and FAQs to advance business objectives.

Mr. Clayton’s labor management practice focuses on representing corporations and public institutions in labor and employment litigation and in federal administrative proceedings. He is also a former trial attorney with the National Labor Relations Board. Mr. Clayton has over 30 years’ experience in handling representation in NLRB representation and unfair labor practice cases, arbitrations, and collective bargaining negotiations in the healthcare, communications, transportation, construction, printing, gas utility, gaming and sports industries. His counseling experience has involved advising employers on union avoidance strategies, strike management plans, and union corporate campaign tactics. He also has substantial experience in handling EEOC discrimination cases.

His education practice concentrates on providing counsel to universities and secondary school districts on crisis management, labor relations, employment litigation, Title IV, VI, and IX, and NCAA compliance matters. Mr. Clayton has substantial experience conducting Title IX audits and providing NCAA and EEO compliance training for athletic departments. He is also experienced in admissions policies, campus security, and hiring diversity risk management.

In 2004, Mr. Clayton was named the National Bar Association’s Sports & Entertainment Lawyer of the Year. In his sports law practice, he served as counsel to the National Basketball Players Association and National Football League Players Association. He has represented NCAA Division I and II universities in cases before the NCAA Committee on Infractions and Appeals Committee as lead counsel and has advised major universities across the country on Title IX gender equity compliance. In addition, Mr. Clayton provides labor audit and governmental relations advice in professional sports franchise acquisition. He provides counsel to sports marketing firms in the negotiation of broadcasting, licensing and corporate sponsorship agreements.

Prior to joining Goldstein & McClintock LLLP, Mr. Clayton was a partner with such law firms as Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan, Jackson Lewis and Littler Mendelson. He is a former Associate Dean and Professor at Tulane Law School. Dean Clayton was the co-founder of the Sports Law Program and taught the Amateur Sports Law course, which covered Title IX and NCAA rules compliance. He also taught employment rights and international labor law.

Mr. Clayton was a world ranked middle distance runner by Track & Field News and earned five-time All-Ivy and two-time All-ICAAAA honors in the 600, 1000 and 880. He was Captain of the 1972-73 Track Team at Harvard University and a school record holder in the indoor 880 yard run. He is a graduate of St. Albans School (Washington D.C.). Mr. Clayton was a five-time Washington Post All Metropolitan honoree and the scholastic area record holder in the 880. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Black Ice Project and the St. Albans Alumni Association and served as an inaugural member of the New Orleans Bowl Committee.

Mr. Clayton is a regular contributor to the University Business, Athletic Business, and Legal Issues in College Athletics and Sports Litigation Alert and has been a contributing editor to The Developing Labor Law. He is frequently quoted in major newspapers across the country, including USA Today, The Baltimore Sun, The Dallas Morning News, and The Times-Picayune, on a wide range of labor and sports law issues. Mr. Clayton is a nationally-recognized lecturer on diversity in higher education and is a frequent speaker at the annual conferences of the American Bar Association, National Bar Association, National Association of College and University Attorneys, National Employment Law Council, National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, and Eastern College Athletic Conference.

• District of Columbia
• Florida
• Louisiana
• U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia
• U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
• U.S. District Court, Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana
• Superior Court of the District of Columbia
• Florida Supreme Court
• Louisiana Supreme Court

• 10/23/2015 – Robert Clayton – Panelist at MBLA Rainmakers’ Roundtable
• 3/20/2015 – Robert Clayton – Sports and Labor Law Symposium Panelist
• 2/24/2015 – Robert Clayton Recognized by Harvard Track
• 11/17/2014 – Vincent Norwillo and Robert Clayton Published in Sports Litigation Alert
• 6/30/2014 – Robert Clayton Interviewed by The American Lawyer in “A Young Obama Ponders Problem of Minority Retention at Big Firms”
• 5/1/2014 – Robert L. Clayton Discusses Legal Aspects of NBA’s Ruling on Donald Sterling on Sports Talk Live
• 4/7/2014 - Robert Clayton and Vincent Norwillo Author Article in LICA
• 2/6/2014 – Robert Clayton – Virginia State University Investigation Update
• 12/3/2013 – Robert Clayton Retained by Virginia State University
• 8/23/2013 – Robert Clayton Attending The New York Times 2013 School For Tomorrow Conference
• 4/22/2013 – Robert Clayton Led Effort to Honor Mamie Johnson with Dedication of Mamie Johnson Field in DC
• 11/7/2012 – Robert Clayton Attends Maryland/DC Minority Supplier Development Council Gala
• 11/2/2012 – Robert Clayton Quoted on Ohio State Bowl Ban
• 10/2/2012 – Robert Clayton’s Representation of Former SEBL All-Stars Coach Tony Edwards Results in Clearance by NCAA
• 4/23/2012 – Robert Clayton participated in “Advice from the Pros” – hosted by Morgan State University

• George Washington University National Law Center, J.D.
• Harvard University, A.B., Social Relations