Christopher Soriano, a member of the firm’s Trial Practice Group, concentrates his practice on gaming law and commercial litigation. As a gaming lawyer, Mr. Soriano has represented a wide range of stakeholders in the gaming industry—casinos, private equity and hedge funds, lottery companies, gaming technology manufacturers and equipment suppliers, and individuals—in all aspects of the licensing and regulatory process.
He also focuses on the legal implications of cutting edge issues such as sports betting, internet gaming, fantasy sports, and internet lottery. He has experience before numerous gaming regulatory bodies including the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and Casino Control Commission.
He has conducted internal investigations of gaming companies and advised clients with respect to compliance and control enhancements. He has assisted with gaming license applications in many states and provinces in the United States and Canada. He has also represented gaming industry clients in administrative actions and in litigation.
He is regularly featured in various mainstream and gaming industry publications commenting on developing issues in gaming law, frequently speaks on these subjects, and contributes to the Duane Morris LLP Gaming Law Blog.
As a litigator, Mr. Soriano has a wide variety of experience in state and federal courts, having litigated in many different areas, such as health care, public contracting, election law, and class actions.
Admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Mr. Soriano is a 2003 cum laude graduate of Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he was a staff member and business editor of Temple Law Review. He is a 2000 magna cum laude graduate of George Washington University, having majored in political science.
Prior to entering the practice of law, Mr. Soriano served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Thomas J. Rueter, U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Soriano is active in his community, having been appointed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a member, Vice Chair, and now Chair of the Court’s District IV Ethics Committee, covering Camden and Gloucester Counties.
He serves as Chairman of the Planning Board of his hometown of Haddon Heights, where he has also served as chairman and chief strategist of several successful local political campaigns.
In addition, he is a Trustee of the Order Sons of Italy in America, Lodge 2311, and volunteers as a youth baseball coach. He also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ritz Theatre Company, a non-profit theater located in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
Representative Matters:
- Represented GameCo, Inc., the creator of the world’s first skill-based video game gambling machines (VGM™), in acquiring approvals from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement to debut its product at Atlantic City casinos.
- Legal counsel to American Racing and Entertainment, LLC, parent company of Tioga Downs Racetrack, LLC, in securing a $90 million senior secured debt facility that will enable the full scale, $145 million casino expansion of Tioga Downs in New York state.
- Representing Virtua Health Inc. and Capital Health System Inc. in a case against the state of New Jersey, seeking to hold unconstitutional as “special legislation” a law that transfers the right to provide emergency medical services from Virtua and Capital to other hospitals without regard to the established regulatory structure.
- Obtained a ruling from a New Jersey appeals court affirming the denial of a motion to vacate a domesticated Maryland judgment based on due process in a dispute over a breached gasoline supply agreement.
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of Virtua Health, Inc., a health system of four hospitals in southern New Jersey, against Deborah Heart and Lung Center, a specialty hospital in southern New Jersey, in federal antitrust litigation in which the court held Deborah failed to show any adverse effect on competition in the market.
- Represented NYX Gaming Group in its acquisition of OnGame Network Limited and OnGame Services AB from Amaya Gaming Group. The acquisition provides NYX Gaming Group with a poker platform and gives them an amplified presence in the New Jersey Internet gaming market.
- Represented a family-owned gaming business in its merger with a public company, to form a new publicly traded company that will operate six casino resorts nationwide.
- Represented as regulatory counsel Bally Technologies, Inc. in its acquisition of gaming technology company SHFL entertainment, Inc. in a deal valued at approximately $1.3 billion.
- Represented one of the world’s largest gaming companies in receiving approvals for a complex financing transaction, which presented an issue of first impression before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
- Represented a major worldwide television and internet retailer in the defense of several class actions brought against it based on its sales practices.
Education:
- Temple University Beasley School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2003
- The George Washington University, B.A, magna cum laude, 2000
Admissions:
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Professional Activities:
- Member, New Jersey State Bar Association
- Trustee, Casino Law Section, 2015-present
- Chairman of Casino Law Section, 2014-2015
- Vice-Chair and Legislative Coordinator, Casino Law Section, 2013-2014
- Supreme Court of New Jersey, District IV Ethics Committee
- Chair, 2016-2018 Term
- Vice Chairman, 2014-2016 Term
Cost
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