Litigator of the Week Runners-Up
Contract law. Foreign Policy. Sports. This week's runners-up from Paul Weiss, Latham & Watkins and Baker Botts have it all covered.
October 23, 2020 at 07:25 AM
3 minute read
If you like cases that raise big questions of foreign policy and contract law, then boy do I have a runner-up for you!: U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan on October 16 found that Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA has to pay up after it defaulted on $1.68 billion in bonds in October 2019. The judge rejected PDVSA's claims that the bonds were invalid and found that the underlying contracts, which were negotiated and executed entirely in New York, are governed by New York law. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Latham & Watkins co-led the matter for MUFG Union Bank and GLAS Americas, the trustee and collateral agent respectively for bondholders. During a four-and-a-half hour video conference hearing, Paul Weiss partner Walter Rieman argued federal law and New York law issues, and Latham & Watkins partner Chris Clark argued issues of Venezuelan law. If you like cases that raise big questions of foreign policy and contract law and sports, then boy do I have a runner-up for you!: A Baker Botts team led by Michael Goldberg represented Rocket Ball Ltd., the owner and operator of the NBA's Houston Rockets, and Clutch City Sports & Entertainment in an arbitration against ROKiT Marketing Inc. The arbitration stemmed from an October 2018 deal between the Rockets and ROKiT (say that five times fast!), where ROKiT received advertising and sponsorship opportunities including a jersey patch displaying its logo on Rockets game jerseys. In return, ROKiT agreed to pay a sponsorship fee with a base contract price for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 regular seasons and an additional price for the postseason. According to the team, ROKiT paid the 2018 regular season fee, but didn't pay up for the 2018 postseason or the 2019-2020 campaign. The Rockets filed an arbitration with AAA against ROKiT in March, and ROKiT, in turn, brought numerous counterclaims including a request for a cash offset based on the suspension of the NBA season spurred by the coronavirus; damage to ROKiT's reputation in China as a result of a pro-Hong Kong tweet by then-Rocket's General Manager Daryl Morey last year; and breach of confidentiality and non-disparagement obligations. ROKiT sought $100 million in damages. On October 12, the arbitrator issued a final award siding with the Rockets' awarding them the full $12.362 million requested, and denying ROKiT's counterclaims. Final papers were filed in the case on October 19.
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