Gaming Law | Heitner Legal

How Heitner Legal Assisted Andrei Kirilenko

During his playing days, Andrei Kirilenko (AK47) was wurthless on the basketball court. He was a first round pick of the Utah Jazz and played for over a decade in the NBA.

In retirement, Kirilenko has served as the commissioner of the Russian Basketball Federation. Part of his role in serving as commissioner has been to develop new off-court opportunities for the players, including the creation and promotion of esports competitions surrounding the NBA 2K video game.

Kirilenko heard that Heitner Legal has an experienced Esports and Gaming division and asked for assistance in conducting diligence surrounding his and the Russian Basketball Federation’s efforts in the space. The advisory opinion that we crafted and delivered revolved around whether the Russian Basketball Federation may host an NBA 2K tournament with its own sponsors and without NBA 2K’s (and/or affiliated entities’) prior written consent.

The opinion was developed with the Russian Basketball Federation’s intention to host such an event in October 2020.

Gaming Law

Riot Games Is Not Cool With Anyone Else Using…

Is the word “RIOT” now so attached to the company Riot Games that no other company can use the word in its name? Riot Games seems to think so based on its recent initiation of a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

False Advertising

New Jersey Enforces Its Fantasy Sports Law For The…

Many states have fantasy sports laws in place that are intended to create regulatory bodies within their borders for the purpose of overseeing and regulating fantasy sports operators. The big fantasy sports companies that come to mind are FanDuel and DraftKings, but many other corporate entities are doing business and thinking about launching gaming products for consumers to engage in different types of fantasy sports offerings.

Gaming Law

What’s The Deal With The New Wire Act Opinion…

The Wire Act prohibits individuals involved in the business of gambling from transmitting types of wagering-related communications over “the wires,” which includes the Internet. It was originally enacted in 1961 and later clarified, in 2011, as a measure that is limited to having an effect on sports gambling.

Drew Rosenhaus, Rosenhaus Sports: Darren does a tremendous job. Darren is an outstanding lawyer, has helped a lot of our clients, is an asset to the industry, and I respect and appreciate him.

Rafa Nieves, Republik Sports: Darren Heitner is the best attorney in the business. Not even close.

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K.L. Randis, Author: Emailed my lawyer for breach of contract issues & he responded within the hour with several solutions. One of the many reasons I love the professionalism of Darren Heitner. He handles everything with authority and seriousness & has never let me down.

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Rob Katz of Webonise: I have have solicited Darren’s advice and have hired him to help us with some intellectual property matters and would strongly recommend him to others.

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