Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. and Sphere Entertainment Co., owned by billionaire James Dolan, have made headlines recently for their unique policy of barring lawyers involved in active litigation against the company from entering their premises. Now, in the midst of ongoing disputes with the legal community, the companies have announced the appointment of a new general counsel, Laura Franco, who will take up her position on February 20th. Bloomberg Law provides a comprehensive run-down of the situation.
Prior to her appointment, Franco served as the chief legal and compliance officer for dating app company Bumble Inc., a position she took up in late 2020 after leaving her role as general counsel at CBS Corp. Throughout her career, Franco has taken on a range of legal challenges, with an impressive pay package of nearly $5 million from Bumble in 2023 reflecting her substantial contributions to the company.
These new responsibilities come at a time of legal controversy for Franco’s employers. Known colloquially as the “lawyer ban,” Madison Square Garden’s policy disallows individuals from attending events at its venues while they are engaged in litigation against the company. Despite pushing back from the New York bar, the company has managed to uphold this policy so far, with a New York appellate court reversing a previous decision that required the company to refund lawyers with valid tickets in December.
Nonetheless, ongoing litigation and regulatory scrutiny continues to dog the company, which uses facial recognition software to identify barred individuals. The company faces additional challenges due to threats from New York’s liquor authority to pull their license over the lawyer ban. Despite these setbacks, the ban remains in “full effect” and all lawyers affected by the policy have been informed that they will be allowed to return to the company’s venues once their litigation is resolved.
With such a complex and contentious legal situation, it is clear that Franco will have her work cut out for her when she steps into her role as general counsel later this month. It will be interesting to see how she navigates these challenges and what impact her decisions will have on the future of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. and Sphere Entertainment Co.