Shipp ruled in late December that the four leagues and the NCAA could sue New Jersey over its proposed plan to allow sports betting. The commissioners of all four leagues—including former Proskauer Rose partner-turned-NBA head David Stern—have given depositions in the case, with Stern in particular having harsh words for Christie, a former federal prosecutor.
New Jersey and its legal team claim that decades-old gambling on games has not hurt any of the plaintiffs' finances. Christie’s office has already said the state will appeal Shipp’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which previously heard the Delaware case, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Around the Horn
—Colony Capital has reportedly edged ahead in the bidding for Anschutz Entertainment Group, a sports and entertainment giant put on the block last year by billionaire Philip Anschutz. Hogan Lovells has taken the lead advising AEG on its potential sale, according to our previous reports, a deal that other publications claim could exceed $8 billion. Ronald Sanders, a former Clifford Chance partner, serves as general counsel for Colony, a Santa Monica–based private investment firm founded by billionaire Thomas Barrack Jr., who is himself an attorney.
—The Am Law Daily has pretty much exhausted its reserves reporting on Lance Armstrong’s myriad legal issues, but it’s worth noting that last week the Justice Department announced it would join a whistle-blower suit filed against the disgraced road cyclist several years ago by former teammate Floyd Landis, according to The BLT. An amended complaint has since been filed in the case, which remains under seal in U.S. district court for the District of Columbia. Armstrong is also facing a suit filed last month in state court in Dallas by a sports promotion company seeking to clawback $12 million in Tour de France bonuses, according to sibling publication Texas Lawyer.
—The NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars have hired former Proskauer Rose associate Megha Parekh—a member of Forbes’s 30 Under 30 Sports List—as their new general counsel. Parekh replaces Sashi Brown, a former corporate associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr who was promoted last year from assistant general counsel to fill the position vacated following the departure of Foley & Lardner of counsel Paul Vance after the $760 million sale of the team. In January, Brown left the Jaguars to become the new in-house legal chief for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.
—Foley & Lardner has bolstered its sports practice by hiring labor and employment and sports industry partner Jonathan Israel in New York from Greenberg Traurig. Also adding to its ranks in the sporting realm: Ballard Spahr, which hired sports agent and corporate partner Travis Leach in Phoenix from Jennings Strouss & Salmon, a local firm he joined last year from Snell & Wilmer.
—Finally, The Am Law Daily was saddened to hear last month that Lindsey Vonn, the star downhill skier and estranged daughter of DLA Piper partner Alan Kildow, had suffered a serious knee injury after crashing during a race in Austria. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that many winter ski resorts in the U.S. are facing safety issues after opening unbeaten paths to new skiers. One firm, 100-lawyer, Salt Lake City-based Ray Quinney & Nebeker, has carved out an entire winter sports practice by representing ski resorts and other snowbound clients, according to sibling publication The National Law Journal.
