FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 3 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network -…

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 3 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., a Florida-based full-service commercial law firm, today announced that prominent South Florida gaming law attorney David S. Romanik has been appointed to the firm’s expanding Entertainment, Sports and Gaming Law practice.

On the eve of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s anticipated signing of a new law
enabling slot machine gaming at pari-mutuel facilities in Florida counties in
which voters have approved slot gaming via referendum, the appointment of
Mr. Romanik strengthens Becker & Poliakoff’s already extensive gaming and
entertainment practice and enables the firm to expand the depth and breadth of
legal services it delivers to clients active in the gaming industry and
related businesses.

As a result of Broward County voter approval via referendum in March 2005,
the new law paves the way for establishment in South Florida of combined
“Racino” racetrack-casinos, via authorization of Class III slot-machine gaming
at Broward County’s pari-mutuel facilities. Existing Broward pari-mutuel
facilities that may apply for and receive slot-gaming licenses under
regulations slated to be in effect by June 2006 include: Gulfstream Park in
Hallandale, FL; Pompano Park, in Pompano Beach, FL; the Hollywood Greyhound
Dog Track, in Hollywood, FL; and, Dania Jai-Alai, in Dania Beach, FL.

The appointment of Mr. Romanik adds his 30 years of experience of general
civil practice and extensive experience as a lawyer and business advisor to
the gaming and thoroughbred racing industries to Becker & Poliakoff’s gaming
practice. In his new capacity, he will work closely with Becker & Poliakoff
shareholder Alan B. Koslow, lead attorney in charge of the law firm’s
entertainment, gaming, pari-mutuel and sports law practice, and a member of
the prestigious International Association of Gaming Attorneys.

“David Romanik’s longtime experience providing legal and business counsel
to clients in the gaming industry and his extensive knowledge of the
thoroughbred racing business nationwide will give even greater depth and
breadth to Becker & Poliakoff’s ability to provide strategic legal,
legislative and business advice to world-class clients active in the
entertainment, sports and gaming industries,” said Alan B. Koslow, who leads
Becker & Poliakoff’s gaming practice and is vice-chair of the American Bar
Association’s Committee on Gaming Law.

“David’s business experience as a major racetrack executive, as well as
his role as lead attorney on both recent acquisitions of Gulfstream Park,
provide a valuable addition to our firm as we work to help attract national
and international investment to our area, building a prosperous gaming
environment that will benefit local businesses and communities throughout
South Florida,” Koslow said.

Mr. Romanik joins Becker & Poliakoff from his own South Florida private
law and consulting firm, David S. Romanik, P.A., offering legal and consulting
services to the gaming industry. Mr. Romanik’s extensive experience advising
the gaming industry is matched by a long association with the legal and
business affairs of Florida thoroughbred racing.

In 2000, Mr. Romanik was President, CEO and General Counsel to the
Gulfstream Park Racing Association, Inc., in Hallandale, FL, and that same
year was a member of the Board of Directors of the Thoroughbred Racing
Association. A thoroughbred horse owner and breeder since the late 1980s,
Mr. Romanik also served from June 2002 through March 2005 as General Counsel
to Hialeah, Inc., the operator of the Hialeah Park Race Track, prior to which
he was a consultant to The New York Racing Association on legal, legislative,
regulatory and business matters.

Admitted to the Florida Bar in 1976, Mr. Romanik began his legal career as
an attorney in the law offices of Landefeld and Romanik in Hollywood, two
years later joining the firm of Abrams, Anton, Robbins, Resnick, Schneider &
Mager, P.A. From 1980-2000, he was principal shareholder in the Hollywood law
firm of Romanik and Lavin.
Mr. Romanik holds a B.S. degree in Economics from the Wharton School of
Finance & Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania and earned his J.D.
degree with honors in 1975 from the University of Florida College of Law.
Becker & Poliakoff has developed a strong practice in the areas of
entertainment, gaming, pari-mutuel and sports law, providing legal counsel and
representation to a wide range of clients in the gaming industry, from
entrepreneurs, developers, hotel and restaurant owners and operators, to pari-
mutuel operators, national publicly traded casino and lottery companies and
gaming machine manufacturers and distributors.
Additional information and a representative list of Becker & Poliakoff
clients in the gaming and entertainment industry is available online at:
http://www.becker-poliakoff.com/areas_of_practice/gaming_parimutual_law.html .

About Becker & Poliakoff
Becker & Poliakoff, P.A. is a diversified commercial law firm based in Ft.
Lauderdale with more than one hundred and twenty attorneys in fourteen Florida
offices and international and affiliated offices in the Czech Republic, China,
Germany, France and Israel. In addition to Entertainment, Sports and Gaming
Law, the firm counsels clients in legal issues relating to Real Estate,
Construction, Dispute Resolution, Corporate, Tax, International Business and
Trade, and many other areas of law. For more information, visit:
http://www.becker-poliakoff.com .

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