For decades, Saul Ewing’s Al Chakravarty has defended organizations and individuals challenged by federal and state agencies, whether it included regulatory and compliance issues, whistleblower complaints, national security concerns, allegations of anti-competitive behavior, executive or employee malfeasance, insider threats and a variety of criminal allegations, such as fraud and corruption.
In recent years, as Esports has surged in popularity, Chakravarty’s experience has proven invaluable for the Esports clients, feeding our curiosity to learn more about Chakravarty. Thus, here’s our exclusive interview with the sought-after attorney.
Question: Tell us about your earliest experience with entertainment and sports law?
Answer: I was an athlete growing up, but for most of my legal career, I couldn’t have been farther away from sports and entertainment law. I became a criminal prosecutor, and aside from a few cases involving athletes, my love of sports and entertainment did not involve my day job. That changed when the Boston Marathon bombing occurred, and I was fully invested in the response and the prosecution of that case which gave me newfound appreciation for both the people and the issues in these industries and how my skills could help them.
Q: How would you describe your overall practice?
A: As a former state, federal and international prosecutor, my practice involves protecting companies and individuals from government allegations of wrongdoing, often by conducting investigations to help show that the issues have been responsibly addressed. While I am a litigator by nature, I predominantly respond to corporate crises, conduct internal investigations, represent individuals in white collar criminal cases, and help address False Claims Act allegations.
In addition to my government enforcement practice, I also have developed a vanguard practice in cybersecurity and data privacy building on my experiences at the FBI and the Department of Justice’s National Security Division. This has led me to intersect with the eSports and gaming industries, and I have represented cryptocurrency platforms and gaming platforms dealing with various cyber and government issues.
Q: How does you practice intersect with the entertainment and sports industries?
A: My current practice involves entertainment and sports in a variety of ways. For a few professional sports teams, I have provided cyber and data privacy counseling, including novel issues related to sports analytics and health data. These clients face some of the most interesting legal issues involving league and employee obligations, consumer data, analytics, data sharing and AI, all under the watchful eye of a hyper vigilant media and fanbase. When I moved out to Denver, I befriended several former professional athletes and learned to think about the issues that they had to deal with in their businesses and sometimes in their personal interests. At the same time, I successfully represented athletes and performers who have encountered litigation challenges and when they seek advice on managing the myriad issues that celebrities encounter. In a sign of how times are rapidly changing, a few years ago, I extricated one of my clients who had been accused of fixing professional matches, and now I represent a platform that is built around games of chance and sports betting. In these dynamic times, being a litigator provides valuable flexibility.
Q: What trends are you closely following in your practice area that do or have the potential to intersect with the sports, entertainment and gaming industries?
A: Because I engage in these areas in different ways, there are a wide array of issues that I’m tracking. For example, Saul Ewing represents a lot of Universities and there are myriad issues involving investigations into Title IX allegations which are dynamic, including those created by the recent exodus from the Department of Education. Universities also receive federal funding which raise a host of other enforcement concerns. Practical issues are also accompanied by technology issues, such as the use of AI in predictive analysis of athletes, but also in digital marketing and retargeting fans, as well as to simplify document review and make investigations more efficient. In relation to the gaming industry, I am closely watching government enforcement policy and activity, although as far as I can tell, there are many higher priorities that federal authorities are occupied with. Overall, I think Sports and Entertainment are growing industries with much greater profitability than they have ever experienced. Having people I grew up with and those I have gotten to know becoming team owners under the new private equity model has convinced me that careful legal counseling today is more important than ever. This twenty-first century version of the Sandlot looks very different from what I grew up with. I love the legal issues, but the business dynamics today may be more exciting than those on the field.
