Orrick 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
Edward R. Bedrosian Jr., executive director of the Massachusetts State Gaming Commission. Courtesy photo
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."
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