On October 20 and 23, 2023, numerous parties filed amicus briefs in support of Weil’s clients, two Minor League Baseball teams, as they seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court of the century-old common-law antitrust exemption for professional baseball.
In total, eight amicus briefs were submitted to the Court in support of the petitioners, on behalf of a diverse group of amici including 17 states and the District of Columbia, a bipartisan contingent of U.S. Congressmen, the Major League Baseball Players Association, dozens of law school professors, and numerous think tank and public interest organizations.
In the underlying complaint, filed in December 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the plaintiffs allege that Major League Baseball’s restructuring of the minor league system violates the U.S. antitrust laws. Based on the antitrust exemption, the S.D.N.Y. granted defendants’ motion to dismiss in October 2022, and the Second Circuit affirmed in June 2023, leading plaintiffs to file a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to rule by January 2023. Weil also is litigating a related case on behalf of the same plaintiffs against MLB and several clubs in New York Supreme Court.
The Weil team is led by David Lender, Co-Chair of Weil’s global Litigation Department, and includes partners Greg Silbert and Eric Hochstadt, and associates Zach Schreiber, Shai Berman, Daniel Lifton, and Mark Pinkert.
View the amicus briefs in support:
- The Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws
- 17 U.S. states and the District of Columbia
- Antitrust, Business, and Sports Law Professors
- Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce
- Baseball Antitrust Scholars
- Open Markets Institute
- U.S. Senators Mike Lee and Marco Rubio and Representatives Paul Tonko and Joe Courtney
- Major League Baseball Players Association