Lawsuits challenging Madison Square Garden's lawyer ban are abating; only 2 remain
There are two lawsuits remaining that challenge the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.’s policy of banning lawyers from many of its properties if their law firms have sued the company. Image from Shutterstock.
There are two lawsuits remaining that challenge the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.’s policy of banning lawyers from many of its properties if their law firms have sued the company.
The first firm to sue Madison Square Garden over the policy, Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, has dropped its suit, lawyer Larry Hutcher told Law.com. That’s because the underlying suit that led Madison Square Garden to ban the lawyers, a suit filed on behalf of ticket resellers, has been resolved.
“I was more interested in letting members of my firm go to Radio City Music Hall, to the Christmas Spectacular, than I was in continuing to fight with Madison Square Garden Entertainment,” Hutcher told Law.com. “I just hope I’ll be able to see a Knicks championship this year.”
Hutcher told the Appellate Division’s First Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court in a September affirmation that his firm did not oppose a reversal of a judge’s decision awarding $600 to a Davidoff Hutcher lawyer who was denied entry to a Madison Square Garden property. Last week, the court ruled for Madison Square Garden and reversed the judge’s award, according to Law.com.
But the First Judicial Department ruled against Madison Square Garden last month, when it allowed the New York State Liquor Authority to continue investigating whether the policy violates the terms of its liquor license, Law.com reports.
“This decision will not deter us from fighting an administrative agency that has run amok,” a Madison Square Garden spokesperson told Law.com in a statement. “We intend to appeal.”
One of the remaining suits was filed by a personal injury firm seeking an injunction after one of its lawyers was banned from a Mariah Carey concert, according to the New York Times and Law.com. The other is a proposed class action suit alleging that Madison Square Garden collects biometric information “to intimidate actual and prospective litigants and their attorneys from pursuing potentially meritorious lawsuits against MSG.”
See also:
“Madison Square Garden lifts ban on some lawyers as it explores sale of Tao Group”
