COMPLIANCE
Anti-Money Laundering
The Gaming and Hospitality Industry is often a target of anti-money laundering enforcement. With a former Department of Justice prosecutor and FDIC enforcement attorney on staff who is deeply familiar with the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML), Harris Beach’s Gaming and Hospitality attorneys advise on how to avoid becoming a target, defend against negative examination findings or enforcement actions, and help remediate BSA/AML issues.
Our Gaming and Hospitality attorneys counsel clients on compliance with applicable statutes and regulations. We conduct internal investigations of suspect activity and advise clients on self-reporting, as well as securing favorable administrative rulings. Additionally, we respond to regulatory or law enforcement investigations of client operations or customer conduct, update internal compliance programs to meet the changing requirements of regulators, address client questions implicating Currency Transaction or Suspicious Activity Reports, and advise clients on designing ‘know your customer’ due diligence programs meeting the dual goals of legal compliance and patron acceptance.
Gaming Licensing
The U.S. gaming industry generates billions of dollars in revenue each year and is heavily regulated. To participate, gambling operators must be licensed and comply with an ever-changing regulatory landscape. We have served as counsel to casino and gaming interests, led licensing efforts for public procurement and casino siting for a thoroughbred horse racing operator, and conducted internal investigations for racing and gaming operations.
Harris Beach’s Gaming and Hospitality lawyers frequently help clients obtain gambling licenses, assisting them through the various phases of the process required for approval: application submission, state investigation, interview, and public hearing. We’ve also represented individual clients, consortiums, officers, employees and members of governmental, public and private gaming entities before the various federal and state regulatory bodies on licensing matters.
Gaming Regulatory Compliance
Harris Beach’s Gaming and Hospitality attorneys, through preventative counseling, help organizations establish policies and procedures to foster compliance, and endeavor to avoid governmental actions and keep inquiries out of the public eye. Not only can we help an organization stay in compliance with federal, state and local government regulations, but our attorneys and consulting professionals can help an organization protect its image and brand while under public scrutiny.
Our lawyers address issues related to compliance and required reporting, business ethics, corporate governance, as well as government investigations and regulatory actions. We also represent clients in administrative and civil proceedings, and we handle all stages of civil and criminal defense from the investigative and pretrial phases through trial and appeal. We also advise clients on sports betting compliance, tracking its developing regulatory framework and monitoring updates on legislation, including sports betting on mobile phones.
We have successfully represented organizations and individuals in numerous matters before the Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG), Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and state agency regulators. This includes defending individuals and entities at all stages of OAG investigations, including high-profile cases. We have managed complex and burdensome subpoenas for documents and, in many cases, helped companies negotiate agreements to avoid the formal subpoena process.
OPERATIONAL MATTERS
Corporate and Business Law
Harris Beach’s Gaming and Hospitality lawyers routinely handle contractual matters, proprietary rights, franchising and distributorships, sales contracts, stockholder agreements, antitrust matters and general business transactions. Harris Beach has represented a wide variety of regional, national and international companies in merger, acquisition and divestiture transactions.
We work with buyers, sellers, financial sources, and parties to joint ventures and strategic alliances in structuring transactions, protecting our clients’ interests and identifying capital, partners and advisors. Our transaction experience includes working with a major developer in the pursuit of multi-state gambling operations. We also represent clients in connection with the acquisition of casinos and racinos, including the requisite gaming licenses.
Financing Strategies
Harris Beach attorneys regularly structure and negotiate financial transactions in the Gaming and Hospitality Industry, including securities offerings, venture capital, mezzanine financings, bond financings, and conventional institutional financings, including construction loan financing transactions.
Our Gaming and Hospitality attorneys also have extensive refinancing experience in restructuring equity investments in, or debt on, distressed properties. We handle transactions that include “equity kickers,” arrangements that allow for shared appreciation or equity conversion for financial restructuring and workouts.
Financial Restructuring and Bankruptcy
Harris Beach’s Gaming and Hospitality attorneys offer clients extensive legal counsel in commercial and financial planning, debt refinancing and restructuring, commercial contract dispute resolution, bankruptcy, foreclosure, distressed investments, commercial and consumer collection, and Uniform Commercial Code compliance.
We draw on the wide range of experience throughout our law firm to service our commercial, lending and consumer clients who are involved in litigation, foreclosures and bankruptcies throughout New York and the United States. Having served as court-appointed trustees, receivers and referees, we are able to assist our clients who face the countless statutes and complex procedures to ensure that all financial restructuring, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights issues are resolved to their best benefit. We helped manage the financial restructuring of a closed racetrack into a financially viable, full-service racetrack, hotel and racino.
Immigration Law
Harris Beach offers comprehensive immigration legal services to help hospitality and gaming industry employers meet their specific needs, while minimizing the inconvenience, delays, expense and potential liability related to immigration issues. We help clients navigate a complex regulatory and procedural maze to secure the following non-immigrant visas:
- H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural service
- Labor on a seasonal or intermittent basis, such as horse trainers and groomers
- TN for Canadian and Mexican professionals admitted under NAFTA
- H-1B and E-3 for specialty occupations
- L for intra-company transfers
- B-1 for business-purpose visitors
- P for athletes and performers
Our Hospitality and Gaming lawyers also assist clients in complying with electronic employment verification rules and I-9 auditing to ease their burden of examining documents to prove employee identity and employment authorization.
Intellectual Property Law
With billions generated each year, the Hospitality and Gaming Industry is ripe for disputes over intellectual property rights and royalties. Our highly-credentialed and respected intellectual property attorneys represent clients ranging from emerging businesses to Fortune 500 corporations, including racing and gaming industry developers and operators.
Our Gaming and Hospitality lawyers have a proven track record of protecting the knowledge-based investments and brand value of numerous organizations in IP matters, including successfully taking cases to verdict in jury trials and achieving favorable settlements for clients. Our practice covers the spectrum of IP services, from acquisition and management through enforcement and litigation.
Labor and Employment Law
The hospitality industry is labor-intensive. That means employers are required to stay abreast of the complex and ever-evolving landscape of state and federal labor laws. Harris Beach has a large and active private and public sector labor practice.
Harris Beach’s Gaming and Hospitality attorneys regularly advise management teams of private and public sector clients on personnel issues, hiring and firing, disciplinary matters and a broad range of other employment issues. We handle all aspects of labor and employment law and litigation on behalf of management, including labor contract administration and arbitration, union organizing, collective bargaining, wage and hour issues, employment discrimination, employee benefits and personnel policies. The firm has extensive experience providing representation regarding collective bargaining, improper practice proceedings, strike injunction proceedings, grievance arbitration proceedings, employment discrimination and drug testing litigation.
Litigation
Our attorneys regularly represent clients in the Gaming and Hospitality Industry in everything from contract disputes to patent infringement claims. Our attorneys have extensive litigation experience in state and federal trial and appellate courts, mediations, arbitrations, and administrative investigations and proceedings. This includes serving as outside counsel in regional off-track betting disputes for a number of years.
Our robust team strives to understand our clients’ legal, financial and organizational objectives and tailor strategies to meet those goals. Our Gaming and Hospitality lawyers work aggressively to minimize disruption, manage costs and efficiently resolve cases. They are acutely aware of the motivations and trigger points of opposing parties; and have experience with when and how to secure the best possible results, whether by settlement, judgment or verdict. If needed, our seasoned trial lawyers possess a strong track record of successfully taking cases to verdict or achieving favorable settlements.
Tax Law
Harris Beach attorneys regularly counsel clients in the Gaming and Hospitality Industry with tax advice needed to run the day-to-day operations of their business, as well as handle unusual tax transactions. From workplace tax compliance to investor tax credits, our experienced attorneys provide guidance on tax issues with goals of optimizing tax structures, minimizing tax liability and complying with increasingly complex rules and regulations.
Our attorneys offer a complete spectrum of representation on all aspects of federal, state, local and international tax law. We provide direct client representation in all types of civil or criminal actions involving taxing authorities and have successfully obtained private letter rulings from the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of our clients on matters relating to corporate tax issues.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Commercial Real Estate
Our Gaming and Hospitality attorneys represent a diverse array of clients who acquire, develop, finance and sell commercial, retail, office, industrial, hotel, golf course, mixed-use, restaurant and residential properties.
Our clients rely on our knowledge and experience in both the private and public sectors in order to access and utilize various forms of financing and economic development grants and incentives. Our firm’s professional consultants also offer solutions to challenging community relations issues to help keep large commercial real estate projects moving forward to their successful completion.
Harris Beach attorneys coordinate the interests of developers and municipalities and work effectively with construction teams to conclude projects in a timely and cost-effective manner. Harris Beach attorneys work closely with the developer’s engineers to create a cohesive site plan to obtain approval from the municipality. After construction, we work with the municipality to satisfy all required conditions and address any operational issues. In addition to our experience in land use and zoning matters, we routinely appear before various zoning, planning and other municipal boards across the state.
Construction and Surety, and Bid Process
Harris Beach’s Gaming and Hospitality attorneys represent owners, contractors, design professionals and sureties to minimize the impact of construction project disputes. Through experience with billions of dollars of public and private construction projects, we protect our clients’ interests beginning with the bidding and contracting phases through financing, zoning, permitting and contract administration to help keep their projects moving forward to their successful completion.
Our attorneys effectively litigate indemnification claims, liens and bond claims for public and private sector clients. They successfully handle all aspects of corporate work and contracts, labor and employment matters, including union workers and OSHA requirements.
Public Finance and Economic Development
Harris Beach has extensive Public Finance and Economic Development experience and routinely assists clients in the Gaming and Hospitality Industry with creative and unique solutions that propel large development projects to successful completion.
Our Gaming and Hospitality lawyers help with identifying, securing and managing economic development and business tax incentive programs. This includes handling showcase development projects statewide and working closely with Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) and Local Development Corporations (LDCs) that provide financial assistance to private entities through tax incentives.
Non-Legal Professional Services through our Subsidiary
Harris Beach recognizes that Gaming and Hospitality clients sometimes need solutions beyond their legal needs. Our affiliated consulting subsidiary, HB Solutions LLC, provides strategic consulting backed by tactical execution for organizations in the public and private sectors across numerous industries.
Our professionals have a strong track record of providing timely, impactful and measurable results. They leverage their insights and experience to help clients secure a competitive advantage by overcoming operational, compliance, fiscal and communications challenges.
