Edward R. Bedrosian Jr., executive director of the Massachusetts State Gaming Commission. Courtesy photoOrrick Ups Its Bet on Sports Gaming With Mass. Regulator Hire
Edward Bedrosian Jr. will leave his post as executive director of the Massachusetts State Gaming Commission to join Orrick later this month.
January 02, 2020 at 05:39 PM
4 minute read
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe is betting that gaming regulation will be a winner in the upcoming years, bringing back former firm of counsel Edward Bedrosian Jr., currently the executive director of the Massachusetts State Gaming Commission, as a partner in Boston.
Bedrosian will end his tenure with the state on Jan. 10 and begin at Orrick on Jan. 20, heading up the firm's gaming regulatory practice.
"It has been the highlight of my career to serve the State of Massachusetts and lead its public servants, who are among our nation's finest. I'm looking forward to bringing the experience I developed at the Gaming Commission to advocating for our clients," Bedrosian said in a statement.
The U.S. Supreme Court gave the states the authority to legalize sports betting in 2018′s Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the regulatory landscape hasn't stopped evolving since. That's been a boon to lawyers able to help clients navigate the opportunities and pitfalls related to casino sports books, online casinos, and other related enterprises.
In a press release, Orrick said it already works with multiple sports leagues, including Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the Professional Golfers Association and fantasy sports companies DraftKings and FanDuel.
Bedrosian has been at the MSGC since 2016, and he said between the Expanded Gaming Act in Massachusetts in 2011 and the Murphy decision five years later, working there was almost like being at a startup.
"It was a great opportunity to go to the gaming commission," Bedrosian said during an interview. "We got to build an agency from the ground up. And now there are opportunities with sports betting going on around the country."
Bedrosian, who spent almost seven years in the Massachusetts State's Attorney's Office and another 15 years at the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office before joining Orrick, had only been at the firm for about 18 months when he left for the MSGC in January 2016.
At the time, Orrick did not have an office in Boston.
"I found out that I was a horrible remote employee," he joked. "I was able to come back because they opened a Boston office."
Office opening aside, the regulatory environment seems primed for Bedrosian.
"At a time when innovation is clearly outpacing regulation, compliance is a strategic issue for our clients—and increasingly so at the state level. Orrick's work on behalf of myriad stakeholders in the gaming industry exemplifies the creative approach Orrick brings to advocacy—and Ed's return clearly augments our capabilities," Mitch Zuklie, Orrick chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
Bedrosian said that he believes Orrick's practice has the capability to marry the legislative end run by Jeremy Kudon, head of Orrick's public policy group, with his end in regulation.
"Jeremy gets the laws passed," Bedrosian said. "The legislative aspect is like the frame of the house. Once that is done, the regulation side comes in and fills it out.
"I know they were super well positioned after the Supreme Court decision," Bedrosian said of the firm. "This was just the next logical step."
|Read More
Orrick Continues Boston Growth, Nabs Life Sciences Partner From Gunderson Dettmer
Market Focus: As Big Law Breaks Into Boston, Midsize Law Puts Up a Fight
Orrick Builds in Boston With Group of Fish & Richardson IP Litigators
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
What Does the Opening of Brazil's Gambling Market Mean For Global Firms?
The Law Firm Disrupted: Some Super Bowl Fun and Games in Big Law
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1Samsung Flooded With Galaxy Product Patent Lawsuits in Texas Federal Court
- 2How Marsh McLennan's Small But Mighty Legal Innovation Team Builds Solutions That Bring Joy
- 3On the Move and After Hours: Brach Eichler; Cooper Levenson; Marshall Dennehey; Archer; Sills Cummis
- 4Review of Ex-parte orders by the Appellate Division
- 5'Confusion Where Previously There Was Clarity': NJ Supreme Court Should Void Referral Fee Ethics Opinion
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
