Our coast-to-coast Sports and Entertainment team understands the issues unique to these interconnected industries. We assist entertainment studios, global media companies, major league sports franchises, and related entities with all types of workers compensation concerns, as well as employment and labor, general defense, data privacy and digital marketing, intellectual property licensing and litigation, transactions and contracts, ownership and operating agreements, specialty insurance coverage, and other matters. Highlights of our practice include:

• Facilitation of industry-wide joint defense programs geared toward creating employer control and cost-savings
• Proactive claim-closure strategies for everyday work-related injuries as well as occupational disease and cumulative trauma claims, including traumatic brain injury litigation
• Internal partnerships with franchises, studios, brokers, and other companies for generation of value-added services and fast, effective litigation plans
• Deep industry experience — including attorneys with decades spent immersed in the unique issues affecting these fields; former major league, minor league, and NCAA athletes; and attorneys involved as producers, consultants, and pro bono legal advisors to a variety of film and television projects

For more information about our experience or to request informational materials, please reach out to one of Goldberg Segalla’s key contacts for the sports and entertainment industries:

Joshua J. Roberts
Orange County
949.271.3325 | jroberts@goldbergsegalla.com
• Key counselor to executives in numerous major league sports organizations and franchises, including members of the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL
• Advises hundreds of employers across various industries on workers’ compensation defense strategy, employment policies and practices, legal and regulatory obligations, and risk management
• Extensive workers’ compensation appellate experience includes obtaining a winning decision in Tony Dorsett v. Denver Broncos, which barred a former professional athlete under res judicata after he filed and settled his claim for workers’ compensation benefits in California years prior to attempting to relitigate
• Regularly defends major-league sports entities in employment and labor-related matters on trial and appeal, including cases involving the issue of jurisdiction over out-of-state employers facing claims filed in California

Sean J. McKinley
New York City
516.281.9833 | smckinley@goldbergsegalla.com
• Co-chair of the Workers’ Compensation Practice Group
• Defends insurance carriers and self-insured employers — especially large sports, entertainment, construction, and health care companies — in a wide range of workers’ compensation claims, including those involving slips and falls, motor vehicle accidents, World Trade Center claims, occupational disabilities, repetitive stress claims, psychiatric injuries, and fraud claims under the Workers’ Compensation Law
• Extensive appellate experience includes authoring the winning brief used in the landmark Court of Appeals’ reversal of Zamora v. New York Neurologic Associates, setting important precedent for claims involving permanent partial disabilities

Joseph M. Hanna
Chicago | Orlando | Buffalo
716.566.5447 | jhanna@goldbergsegalla.com
• Chair of the Sports and Entertainment Practice Group and Retail and Hospitality Practice Group
• Represents national-league sports franchises, movie studios, and others in the sports and entertainment world on a wide range of high-value matters involving licensing, contracts, and day-to-day business management
• Chair of the DRI Commercial Litigation Committee Sports and Entertainment SLG, Law360 Rising Star in Media and Entertainment, member of the Law360 Sports Editorial Board, and editor of Goldberg Segalla’s award-winning Sports and Entertainment Law Insider blog
• Holds a Master’s in Sports Administration, as well as a Master of Public Administration degree with a concentration on Public and Nonprofit Management
• International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, Panels of Distinguished Neutrals: Entertainment Law, Sports Law, New York At Large Alternative Dispute Resolution, and General Commercial