Attorneys bring expertise representing sports figures in salary
arbitrations, contract analysis, grievance and disciplinary proceedings,Congressional hearings and criminal defense
NEW YORK, Jan. 23 LAWFUEL – Sport & Entertainment Legal News — Dreier LLP announced today that prominent sports attorneys Jay K. Reisinger and Thomas J. Farrell have
joined the firm’s Sports Practice as partners along with Valerie Antonette, who has joined as an associate. The group, all from Reich, Alexander, Reisinger & Farrell, LLC, will be based in Pittsburgh, where Dreier LLP has opened an office.
Mr. Reisinger represents professional athletes in salary arbitration
proceedings, contract analysis and league imposed disciplinary actions.
Additionally, he represents both professional and amateur athletes in
criminal and civil litigation matters. Mr. Reisinger also represents
coaches in contract negotiations. He and Mr. Farrell currently are advising Major League Baseball players targeted in Senator George Mitchell’s investigation into performance-enhancing substances. Presently, they are representing New York Yankees’ pitcher Andy Pettitte in the related upcoming Congressional hearings. Previously, Mr. Reisinger and Mr. Farrell advised Sammy Sosa during the 2005 Congressional hearings on steroid use in
Major League Baseball. Mr. Reisinger is certified as an agent by the Major League Baseball Players Association and is a member of the Sports Lawyers Association.
Mr. Farrell, who has a long and varied career as a private and
government lawyer, including as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western
District of Pennsylvania, focuses on white-collar criminal defense. He
frequently lectures and writes on criminal practice, civil liberties and
evidence.
Ms. Antonette focuses on criminal defense and sports law, where her
practice includes the representation of professional athletes in salary
arbitration proceedings, contract analysis and grievance proceedings.
“We are proud to welcome Jay, Tom and Valerie to Dreier LLP. Their
expertise will play a key role in our representation of professional
athletes across the country,” stated Marc S. Dreier, founder and managing
partner of Dreier LLP. “Their skill and knowledge in sports law complements
our strength in representing high profile entertainers in the full spectrum
of legal matters. We will now be able to offer the same full range of
services for professional sports figures.”
Besides representing athletes in matters directly related to sports,
Dreier LLP also focuses on assisting them in selecting and dealing with
other needed professionals, including accountants, agents, financial
advisors, public relations firms, insurance agencies and the like – all
with a view to providing comprehensive counseling.
“With its entrepreneurial structure, Dreier LLP offers an exciting
opportunity to provide sports figures not only with the highest levels of
representation in matters directly related to their professions, but also
in helping them to develop and protect their presence outside of sports,”
Mr. Reisinger stated.
The Dreier LLP Sports Law Department includes noted attorneys Thomas M.
Reich, who serves as of counsel to the firm and has long represented some
of the most famous professional athletes in baseball and hockey, and Don E.
N. Gibson, who is a partner at the firm and previously served as General
Counsel to Major League Baseball Properties Inc.
Mr. Reisinger previously served as outside counsel to Reich’s
Pittsburgh- based firm Reich, Katz & Landis Baseball Group and also
provided legal services to Thomas M. Reich & Associates, whose clients
included NHL stars Mario Lemieux, Chris Chelios, Tom Barrasso, Kevin
Stevens, Luc Robataille and many other National Hockey League players.
Jay K. Reisinger
Mr. Reisinger’s practice focuses on sports law and criminal defense.
His sports law practice includes representation of professional athletes in
salary arbitration proceedings, contract analysis, disciplinary matters and
criminal and civil litigation issues. He represents both players and agents
in grievance/arbitration proceedings. Mr. Reisinger also represents NCAA
coaches in contract negotiations. He also represents amateur athletes in
NCAA and high school eligibility matters. His criminal practice ranges from pre- indictment investigations and negotiations and the representation of witnesses and victims, to white-collar matters such as fraud, and tax
evasion. Mr. Reisinger formerly served as outside counsel to the Reich,
Katz & Landis Baseball Group, and has also provided legal services to
Thomas M. Reich & Associates, whose clients included NHL stars Mario
Lemieux, Chris Chelios, Tom Barrasso, Kevin Stevens, Luc Robataille and
many other National Hockey League players. He is a member of the Sports
Lawyers Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Sports and
Entertainment Law Committee, and is a certified player agent with the Major
League Baseball Players Association. He received a B.A. from Allegheny
College in 1991 and a J.D. from Ohio Northern University School of Law in
1996, where he was a member of the Order of the Barristers.
Thomas J. Farrell
Mr. Farrell’s practice focuses on criminal defense, ranging from pre-
indictment investigations and negotiations and the representation of
witnesses and victims, to trials, appeals and post-conviction petitions;
from white collar matters such as health care fraud, tax evasion, complex
securities frauds, and environmental crimes, to capital murder. He has
extensive experience in civil rights litigation, commercial fraud
litigation, corporate compliance and internal investigations and the
prosecution of whistleblower claims. Mr. Farrell previously served as an
Assistant U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh, where he was awarded the Director’s Award from the Executive Offices of United States Attorneys for his work in prosecuting financial crimes and public corruption. He also served as an
Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Farrell frequently lectures and writes on criminal practice, civil
liberties, and evidence. He is the author of Criminal Defense Tools and
Techniques, which will be published in 2008 by James Publishing (San
Francisco, CA). Mr. Farrell is a member of the Attorney Selection Committee for Criminal Justice Act Attorneys for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and of the Board of the Pittsburgh ACLU
and a hearing officer for the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board. He received a B.A., cum laude, in Philosophy from Yale University in 1983 and a J.D.
from New York University School of Law in 1986, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif.
Valerie M. Antonette
Ms. Antonette’s practice focuses on criminal defense and sports law.
Her sports law practice includes representation of professional athletes in salary arbitration proceedings, contract analysis and grievance
proceedings. Ms. Antonette received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Mesa
State College in 2001 and a J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law in 2004, where she was a member of the Order of Barristers and a member of the National Trial Moot Court Team.
Background on Dreier LLP
Dreier LLP was founded in 1996 by Marc Dreier as a more responsive and
innovative alternative to traditional “large-firm” lawyering. Dreier LLP
represents a wide range of institutional, entrepreneurial and individual
clients in diverse sectors of financial, industrial and service-oriented
markets. The firm’s principal practices are commercial litigation, real
estate, bankruptcy and corporate reorganization, employment, corporate and
securities, entertainment, intellectual property, matrimonial and tax.
Dreier LLP’s Los Angeles affiliate, Dreier Stein Kahan Browne Woods &
George LLP, has its principal practice in entertainment and commercial
litigation and corporate transactions. The firm’s New York affiliate
Schlesinger Gannon & Lazetera LLP has an extensive practice in the area of trusts and estates law. Pitta & Dreier LLP is an affiliate which
specializes in labor law, and Pitta, Bishop, Del Giorno & Dreier LLP
specializes in government relations. In the 12 years since its founding,
Dreier LLP, with its affiliate members, has grown to more than 200
attorneys, with its principal office at 499 Park Avenue in Manhattan, and
additional offices in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, California; Albany, New York; Stamford, Connecticut; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
