The buyers and sellers of the Atlanta Hawks turned to lawyers in Los Angeles and New York to advise on the transaction.

The billionaire buyer, Tony Ressler, who co-founded private equity fund Ares Management, used Alison Ressler, who is an M&A partner at Sullivan & Cromwell in Los Angeles as well as his sister-in-law. The Hawks' owners used Chuck Baker, a partner at DLA Piper in New York, who has handled other transactions for them.

Tony Ressler leads an ownership group whose other members are Spanx founder Sara Blakely and her husband, Marquis Jet co-founder Jesse Itzler, former NBA All-Star Grant Hill and Rick Schnall, who is a partner in another private equity firm, Clayton Dubilier & Rice.