The Firm: Proskauer Rose's deep group has strong relationships with the major leagues, and assists them with the full range of sports issues, including financing, litigation, sponsorship, and broadcasting. However, the core strength of the group remains its peerless labor practice. The firm recently filed an amicus brief before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of ATP World Tour, Sony Ericsson, WTA Tour, MLS and NASCAR in American Needle v NFL.

Sources Say:“They go from soup to nuts, and are great at every aspect of sport.”

Key Individuals: Howard Ganz cochairs the group, and is highly regarded for his role as the NBA’s principal outside labor counsel.  He has recently been involved in the firm's representation of the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Soccer (MLS) on the negotiation of their collective bargaining agreements with their respective players’ unions. Fellow cochair Joseph Leccese has a broad corporate practice with a niche specialty in the representation of sports leagues. He is said to "bring a great perspective to transactions," and recently acted for JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Bank of America as co-lead arrangers for a $450 million secured credit facility used by Tom Ricketts and his family to acquire the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. Robert Batterman is a highly regarded labor lawyer. He is labor counsel to the NHL and the MLS, and is working with the NFL on collective bargaining agreements. Bradley Ruskin cochairs the firm’s global litigation department and is the sports group’s leading litigator. Clients praise his “incredible ability to take complex issues and distill them down in a clear and time-effective way.” Ruskin represented the ATP Tour in an antitrust action filed in the United States District Court of Delaware over the ATP’s program to revise the structure of its tour. Wayne Katz and Jon Oram are both corporate attorneys with a strong focus on the sports industry. Katz represented the Florida Marlins on the execution of agreements with Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami for the construction and use of a new baseball stadium. Oram worked alongside Leccese on the Chicago Cubs transaction.