{"id":2990,"date":"2021-03-08T15:12:42","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T20:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/?p=2990"},"modified":"2023-07-25T11:40:50","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T15:40:50","slug":"weil-weil-wins-significant-judgment-for-nba-star-zion-williamson-dramatically-undercutting-100m-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/2021\/03\/weil-weil-wins-significant-judgment-for-nba-star-zion-williamson-dramatically-undercutting-100m-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Weil &#8211; Weil Wins Significant Judgment for NBA Star Zion Williamson Dramatically Undercutting $100M Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>To read this article as originally published on Weil\u2019s website, click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weil.com\/articles\/weil-wins-significant-judgment-for-nba-star-zion-williamson-dramatically-undercutting-lawsuit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On January 20, 2021, Weil secured an important victory for NBA basketball player Zion Williamson in a federal lawsuit brought against his former agency, Prime Sports Marketing (PSM), and its founder Gina Ford relating to a marketing agreement he signed with PSM before entering the NBA. Judge Loretta Biggs of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina granted Mr. Williamson\u2019s motion for partial judgment on the pleadings, voiding the agreement and underlying contract under which PSM is seeking in excess of $100\u00a0million\u00a0in damages in a separate litigation in Florida state court.<\/p>\n<p>In the court\u2019s 20-page memorandum and order, it first turned to PSM\u2019s motion to supplement its responsive briefing on Mr. Williamson\u2019s motion for partial judgment on the pleadings. Agreeing with Weil\u2019s arguments, the court held that the information PSM sought to introduce \u2013 purported evidence that Mr. Williamson was not a student-athlete at the time he entered into an agreement with PSM \u2013 was an illegitimate attempt at a \u201cbackdoor amendment to their pleadings\u201d with affidavits and exhibits whose authenticity was in question.<\/p>\n<p>The court then turned to Mr. Williamson\u2019s motion for partial judgment on the pleadings on his first claim, for a declaration by the court that the agreement is invalid under North Carolina\u2019s Uniform Athlete Agent Act (UAAA).<\/p>\n<p>Across the board, the court agreed with Weil\u2019s supporting arguments, finding that it is undisputed that Mr. Williamson was a student-athlete at the time he entered into the contract with PSM, that he was not otherwise determined to be permanently ineligible by any oversight body, that PSM was not a properly registered sports agent under North Carolina law, and that PSM did not furnish Mr. Williamson with a contract that contained statutorily required warnings about the consequences of engaging an agent.<\/p>\n<p>As a result of these factual determinations, under the clear language of the UAAA, the court voided the agreement and underlying contract. This deals a major blow to PSM\u2019s $100\u00a0million\u00a0breach of contract claim brought against Mr. Williamson in Florida state court after Mr. Williamson\u2019s federal case had been filed. In that case, in December 2020, on appeal Weil won the reversal of the Florida trial court\u2019s decision denying Mr. Williamson\u2019s motion to dismiss. Please read more about that victory\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.weil.com\/articles\/weil-wins-appeal-for-nba-star-zion-williamson-in-high-profile-marketing-dispute\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Weil team, which\u00a0was led by Employment Litigation partner\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.weil.com\/people\/jeffrey-klein\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jeffrey S. Klein<\/a>, includes Appellate Co-Head\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.weil.com\/people\/zachary-tripp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zack Tripp<\/a>, Complex Commercial Litigation Co-Head\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.weil.com\/people\/edward-soto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Edward Soto<\/a>, counsel\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.weil.com\/people\/pravinkumar-patel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pravin R. Patel<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.weil.com\/people\/corey-berman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Corey D. Berman<\/a>, and associates\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.weil.com\/people\/robert-nilesweed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Robert B. Niles-Weed<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.weil.com\/people\/lauren-richards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lauren E. Richards<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.weil.com\/people\/zachary-schreiber\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zach Schreiber<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To read this article as originally published on Weil\u2019s website, click here. On January 20, 2021, Weil secured an important victory for NBA basketball player Zion Williamson in a federal lawsuit brought against his former agency, Prime Sports Marketing (PSM), and its founder Gina Ford relating to a marketing agreement he signed with PSM before [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":2991,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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