Gaming attorney and sports betting legal expert Daniel Wallach has announced the formation of Wallach Legal LLC, a law firm devoted exclusively to the growing field of sports wagering and gaming law in the United States.
With the Supreme Court having declared the federal ban on state-authorized sports betting to be unconstitutional, the sports betting industry has taken off in the United States. Eight states have legalized sports betting within the last year, and one of those states — New Jersey — has already taken in nearly $2 billion in legal sports bets. This year, another 20 to 25 states are expected to take up the issue of sports betting, and, by this time next year, sports betting might be legal in more than half of the states in the country, according to Wallach.
This new vertical — which some estimate to be in excess of $150 billion annually — has created the need for legal professionals with proficiency in gaming law and an understanding of the complex legal and regulatory environment surrounding sports wagering.
Wallach hopes to fill that need. He has counseled professional sports teams, sports betting operators, fantasy sports companies, sports integrity firms, casinos and racetracks in navigating the complexities of U.S. gambling laws. He is a general member of the prestigious International Masters of Gaming Law, an invitation-only organization for attorneys who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated performance and publishing in gaming law, significant gaming clientele and substantial participation in the gaming industry.
Besides being frequently quoted in the national media, Wallach has also appeared as an expert panelist at dozens of industry conferences and symposia devoted to the subject of sports betting legalization. He has spoken regularly to lawmakers seeking expert advice, including most recently at the National Conference of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS), where he was a featured panelist informing state lawmakers about the nuances related to possible sports betting legislation emerging in the wake of Murphy v. NCAA.
Wallach is the co-founding director of the University of New Hampshire School of Law’s Sports Wagering and Integrity Program, the nation’s first law school certificate program dedicated to the study of sports wagering and integrity. He is an adjunct professor of law at the University of New Hampshire School of Law and the University of Miami School of Law, where designed the nation’s first law school course programs centered on sports betting law and regulation.
Wallach is also a seasoned litigator and appellate attorney. He is Board Certified in Appellate Practice by The Florida Bar, and is AV-Rated (the highest level attainable) by Martindale-Hubbell. He has handled appeals involving a broad range of subjects, including constitutional law, campaign finance, religious freedom, land use, zoning, employment law, and intellectual property rights. He played a pivotal role in the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Florida’s ban on judges and judicial candidates personally soliciting campaign contributions. In that case, Wallach represented three retired chief justices of the Florida Supreme Court (Harry Lee Anstead, Major Harding, and Stephen Grimes) and four former Florida Bar presidents.
He is a 1991 graduate of Hofstra University School of Law, where he graduated with distinction (in the top 2% of his graduating class) and was the Notes and Comments Editor of the Hofstra Law Review.
Wallach began his legal career as the judicial law clerk for the Honorable Jacob Mishler, a federal district court judge and the former chief judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Upon the conclusion of his one-year clerkship, he joined the New York office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he was a member of the Business and Securities Litigation Department (which, at the time, was the nation’s largest law firm practice group devoted exclusively to the practice of federal securities litigation).
