March 25, 2019 (NEW YORK) – Recognized for his industry-defining work in sports law, Proskauer Chairman Joe Leccese has been named a 2019 Dealmaker of the Year by The American Lawyer. Joe was recognized for representing the ownership of the Carolina Panthers in the sale of the Panthers to hedge fund manager David Tepper, which closed in July 2018 with a publicly reported deal value of $2.275 billion, the highest ever sale price for an NFL team.

As co-head of Proskauer’s renowned Sports Law Group, Joe represents sports leagues, teams and owners; college conferences; media and marketing companies; and private equity firms and financial institutions that provide capital for sports industry transactions. Joe regularly handles matters relating to the acquisition, financing, operation and equity funding of professional sports teams; joint ventures; the grant of expansion franchises; stadium and arena deals and financings; media rights agreements; and naming rights and sponsorship deals.

The American Lawyer’s Dealmakers of the Year award recognizes a handful of lawyers who played pivotal roles in some of the most notable transactions of the year, with an emphasis on innovation and creativity.

For more than 50 years, Proskauer has advised the world’s leading sports organizations on their most critical and complex matters. Lawyers in the Firm’s Sports Law Group play a pivotal role in the transactions, negotiations and litigations that transform the business of sports.