Traditional gaming institutions, sports organizations, media companies and industry disruptors are tapping into new technology to remain competitive in a saturated and quickly growing market. Duane Morris attorneys provide gaming companies and industry participants with a full deck of services to match the pace of innovation, while working within the confines of ever-changing local, state and federal regulations surrounding the growth of the industry.
Duane Morris gaming attorneys offer their decades of experience in the industry to provide the most up-to-date guidance to casino owners and operators, online and mobile gaming companies, gaming equipment and software manufacturers, esports entities, key employees, financial institutions and private equity funds, and vendors providing goods and services throughout the gaming industry.
The Duane Morris Gaming Attorneys range of services include, but are not limited to:
Range of Services:
- Licensing and findings of suitability and approvals
- Regulatory compliance
- Construction and development
- Litigation, alternative dispute resolution and internal investigations
- Intellectual property
- Financing
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Labor and employment
We offer our decades of gaming industry experience—including service on public company boards, compliance committees and in leadership positions in industry groups—with a wide range of cross-practice resources.
Areas of Service
Licensing and Findings of Suitability
Duane Morris lawyers bring extensive experience representing traditional casinos and technology startups in front of state gaming commissions and have a successful track record before those organizations. We have also won appeals reversing gaming commissions’ denial in findings of suitability.
We work closely with regulators and compliance committees to help clients obtain, maintain and protect the licenses, findings of suitability and approvals that are critical to operating successfully in highly regulated jurisdictions.
Regulatory Compliance
Gaming industry participants frequently seek our advice on such matters as whether a gaming employee’s conduct justifies or requires discipline, whether a patron’s behavior requires exclusion from the casino, or whether an affiliate’s activity in another jurisdiction requires regulatory approval. With our extensive work in the industry, we interpret gaming regulations and work with regulators to address these issues promptly and clearly. Our lawyers regularly attend the monthly meetings of the gaming regulators in the jurisdictions in which we practice to follow closely any trends or changes in regulatory policy that may be under consideration.
Duane Morris gaming lawyers advise compliance committees of casinos, sports wagering operators and equipment manufacturers on upcoming regulations and reporting requirements, compliance audits and internal investigations. Our goal is not only to help clients conduct the required investigations of those with whom they do business and document those efforts for regulators, but also to identify and address potential issues before they become areas of concern to regulators. We then develop practical solutions to address the issues and create disclosures that satisfy legal requirements, while remaining sensitive to our clients’ needs and reputations.
Construction and Development
Duane Morris attorneys regularly represent owners and developers, prime contractors and subcontractors, construction managers, equipment suppliers, architects/engineers and other design professionals and sureties. Our experience includes work on new and complex gaming projects in major cities across the United States.
Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution
Duane Morris’ trial attorneys are ready to help gaming clients assess the risk of pending or threatened litigation. While ready to take claims to the courtroom, our attorneys seek early resolutions to litigation that align with the reputational and business interests of our clients. We have represented gaming clients in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, arbitrations, restructuring matters and employment disputes, among other matters.
Intellectual Property
The wide variety of companies seeking to become involved in the gaming industry and quickly get ahead of the competition has made the protection of intellectual property more critical than ever before. Duane Morris' IP attorneys focus on leveraging their clients' intellectual property to help them achieve success in the marketplace. Our IP lawyers provide counsel on the most efficacious methods of establishing and developing IP holdings and protecting IP rights so clients can realize the most value from those assets.
Financing
If the transaction involves raising capital, Duane Morris lawyers have extensive experience in syndicated loan or capital markets transactions. Our gaming lawyers manage the entire process to drive efficiencies and help ensure that every aspect of the transaction satisfies regulatory requirements and have guided clients through large and small financing matters.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Our years of experience providing complex M&A, structuring and regulatory advice allows us to guide clients through all phases of their growth cycle. For example, in a typical bricks-and-mortar casino acquisition, our gaming lawyers will call upon lawyers from our corporate, real estate, environmental, labor and employment, intellectual property and finance groups as needed for due diligence and to review the provisions of transaction documents from different legal perspectives. Our lawyers are also frequently called upon by other law firms to serve as gaming counsel on M&A transactions, handling the gaming-related due diligence investigation, interfacing with representation and warranty insurers, and managing the regulatory approval process.
Labor and Employment
Duane Morris employment lawyers regularly counsel diverse gaming companies on compliance with federal, state and local employment laws with the goal of increasing workplace efficiency and preventing potentially disruptive litigation. We also represent management interests in responding to union organizing campaigns, negotiating collective bargaining agreements, handling administrative agency investigations and defending employment-related litigation.
Our lawyers aggressively promote client interests before state and federal courts and in mediation and arbitration proceedings, as well as before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, the federal Wage and Hour Division, and all other state and federal agencies.
Recognized in the Gaming Industry
Our attorneys are prolific authors and speakers on gaming issues and share insights and strategies on the latest developments in gaming law through industry publications, Duane Morris Alerts, the Duane Morris Gaming Law blog, CLE events and industry conferences.
For Additional Information
For additional information, please contact Frank A. DiGiacomo, William M. Gantz, Robert L. Ruben or any of the lawyers referenced on the Attorney Listing.