Jordan Leader is a senior counsel in the Litigation Department and a member of the 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 cross-border commercial disputes. He handles cases in state and federal court as well as in domestic and international arbitrations. Jordan 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. He has represented 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, among others. For over ten years, Jordan co-authored a bi-monthly column entitled “Letter from America” in Sports Law Administration and Practice, a leading industry publication in Europe.
Jordan maintains a significant pro bono practice, most recently focusing on immigration issues and veterans’ rights. Notably, Jordan achieve a recent victory for a veteran seeking benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs relating to the costs of pursuing an advanced degree, after multiple appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Education
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Columbia Law School, J.D.
Managing Editor, Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, 1998-1999
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Yale College, B.A.
Admissions & Qualifications
- New York
Clerkships
- U.S. Court of International Trade - Judge Jane A. Restani
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Michigan, Eastern District
- U.S. District Court, New York, Eastern District
- U.S. District Court, New York, Southern District
Memberships
New York State Bar Association
New York City Bar
Matters
Recent litigation representations include:
- A trading firm in a successful resolution of a noncompete matter against a former employee.
- 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
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 in 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 in obtaining summary judgment dismissing federal antitrust and RICO claims brought by a former promoter of international exhibition soccer matches, which was upheld by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- 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.
Recent international arbitration representations include:
- A US investment bank in securing a complete victory in an ICDR arbitration against an electric vehicle maker it provided services to in connection with becoming a publicly traded company.
- A Caribbean bank in securing a complete victory for the bank in an ICC arbitration in Miami brought by one of the largest Brazilian construction companies, which sought over $35 million in connection with an airport rehabilitation and corresponding long-term bond financing.
- An Indian technology company in numerous proceedings against its US-based joint venture partner, 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.
- German and UK pharmaceutical companies in a Swiss Rules arbitration in Zurich with a US pharmaceutical company 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.
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