Proskauer

Jordan Leader is a senior counsel in the Litigation Department. He is a member of the Commercial Litigation, Sports Law, and International Arbitration Groups.

Jordan regularly represents clients in a variety of complex litigation matters, including contract, joint venture, licensing, fraud, antitrust, and other commercial disputes. He handles cases in state and federal court, and in domestic and international arbitrations.

Recent litigation representations include:

• A managed long term care provider in an arbitration against service providers, and obtaining a favorable settlement after defeating a summary judgment motion; and representing the provider in additional arbitration and litigation matters.
• Former employees of a manufacturer of automobile racing parts, obtaining dismissal of all claims, including breach of contract, unjust enrichment, tortious interference in contract, unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, civil theft, and conversion.
• An international provider of marketing and business optimization services, obtaining a TRO and ultimately a successful resolution in connection with a former employee’s misappropriation of trade secrets.
• A healthcare products distributor, obtaining summary judgment dismissing misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, and breach of contract claims brought by a manufacturer of an oral cancer screening product, which was upheld on appeal by the Second Department.
• A REIT, obtaining summary judgment dismissing antitrust and RICO claims brought by the former owner of a hotel in New York City, and obtaining sanctions against the law firm that filed the complaint, both of which were upheld on appeal by the Second Circuit.

Jordan is the co-editor of Proskauer’s commercial litigation blog, “Minding Your Business,” and is a co-author of a chapter on the use of graphics and demonstratives at trial in the leading commercial litigation treatise in New York.

A significant portion of Jordan’s practice is dedicated to representing and counseling professional sports leagues and teams in a wide variety of areas, including antitrust and competition issues, arena leases, and general contractual and governance issues. Among the firm’s industry clients he has represented are the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, Major League Soccer, the National Hockey League, and the New Jersey Devils. For more than ten years, Jordan co-authored a bimonthly column entitled “Letter from America” in Sports Law Administration and Practice, a leading industry publication in Europe.

Recent sports representations include:

• ATP Tour, in a breach of contract action in the District of Delaware, brought by one of its tournament members, which was favorably resolved.
• WTA Tour, obtaining an order enjoining parties from proceeding with an action they had filed in a foreign court and compelling them to arbitrate their claims, and a related order by a foreign court dismissing claims filed there for lack of jurisdiction.
• Major League Soccer, obtaining summary judgment dismissing federal antitrust and RICO claims brought by a former promoter of international exhibition soccer matches.
• ATP Tour, winning a full defense verdict on antitrust and state law claims after a two week federal jury trial, which was upheld on appeal by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jordan also focuses on complex cross-border commercial disputes, most of which are resolved through international arbitration and related litigation.

Recent international arbitration representations include:

• ABI Bank Ltd, a Caribbean bank, securing a complete victory for the bank in an ICC arbitration in Miami brought by Andrade Gutierrez, one of the largest Brazilian construction companies, which sought over $35 million in connection with an airport rehabilitation and corresponding long-term bond financing.
• Satyam Computer Services, in numerous proceedings against its joint venture partner, Venture Global Engineering (VGE), including: a full victory in an LCIA arbitration in London, which was recognized and enforced by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan; prevailing on three separate appeals brought by VGE to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• sanofi-aventis, in a Swiss Rules arbitration in Zurich with U.S. pharmaceutical company Watson concerning the expiration of distribution and supply rights to a major drug that generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue annually, prevailing on nine out of ten claims.

Jordan maintains a significant pro bono caseload, most recently focusing on immigration issues. He also is active in the Harlem community and sits on the JCC Harlem Advisory Board.