Federal Judge orders Eckert Seamans law firm to release additional emails and documents to Pace-O-Matic
13 Mayo 2024 - 2:15PM
Pace-O-Matic, creator of Pennsylvania Skill games, said it received
another positive court ruling in its conflict-of-interest case
against Eckert Seamans on May 10 when a federal judge ordered the
law firm to release additional documents.
Pace-O-Matic (POM) already received hundreds of
emails and documents from Eckert after the law firm lost a previous
bid to shield the information. U.S. District Judge for the Middle
District Jennifer P. Wilson, who ruled on the case last week, said
Eckert has 21 days to hand over the documents to POM.
Judge Wilson reviewed the emails and provided a
detailed and extensive analysis. She determined that a number of
documents that that law firm has claimed to be privileged are
not.
Mike Barley, chief public affairs officer for POM,
said the ruling is an important step toward winning its case
against Eckert.
"This is yet another positive ruling for
Pace-O-Matic to uncover the extent to which our former law firm,
Eckert Seamans, harmed our business and damaged our reputation
because they were doing the bidding of big casinos," Barley
said.
POM sued Eckert Seamans in February 2020 for
breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. The skill game
company says it accused the law firm of a conflict of interest
after discovering it was representing POM in Virginia where it was
working to regulate skill games and at the same time Parx Casino in
Pennsylvania. Parx is fighting against POM’s skill game operation
in the state.
POM asked Eckert to drop Parx Casino as its client
when it discovered the conflict of interest but instead, the law
firm said it would stop representing POM.
POM has pushed in court to view documents shared
between its former lawyers and others working against it in
Pennsylvania. From the trove of documents POM already has received
from Eckert, Barley says, it is clear there were backroom schemes
involving Eckert to hurt POM, and by association, small businesses,
veterans organizations and fraternal organizations that depend on
skill games revenue.
1-877-448-4263
Pace-O-Matic
717-576-6733
michael.barley@paceomatic.com