Dave & Buster’s Names New Legal Chief After Main Event Merger

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. has promoted one of its in-house lawyers to the company’s top legal job less than three months after purchasing a rival provider of arcade games.

Bryan McCrory started this month as general counsel at Dave & Buster’s, he confirmed in a phone call and statement posted to LinkedIn. The company initially hired McCrory as an associate general counsel in 2017.

Dallas-based Dave & Buster’s disclosed in an Aug. 1 securities filing the departure later that month of Robert Edmund, its chief legal and people officer, who has since taken a job as law head for SnapMedTech Inc., which fills short-term needs for nurses and other medical staffers.

Dave & Buster’s in June completed its $835 million purchase of Plano, Texas-based Main Event Entertainment Inc. from Australia’s Ardent Leisure Group Ltd. and private investment firm RedBird Capital Partners LLC. The merger married Dave & Buster’s 147 locations in North America with Main Event’s 50 centers in 17 US states.

The deal saw Main Event’s chief executive, Chris Morris, take the same role at Dave & Buster’s. Michael Gavin, a former corporate counsel at Main Event, became an associate general counsel at Dave & Buster’s after the merger closed.

Kirkland & Ellis advised Dave & Buster’s, while Gilbert + Tobin represented Ardent and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson counseled RedBird Capital.

Dave & Buster’s, like many restaurant and in-person entertainment establishments, found itself looking for liquidity during the height of the pandemic two years ago. The company avoided bankruptcy and eventually experienced a strong rebound in demand for fun and games after pandemic-related restrictions were lifted.

McCrory spent 25 years in-house at Brinker International Inc., owner of casual dining chains Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy, before joining Dave & Buster’s.

Edmund, a former senior associate at Jones Day and partner at Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, joined Dave & Buster’s in 2018 to succeed longtime legal chief Jay Tobin. He was previously chief talent, legal, and risk officer for employment agency Kforce Inc. and vice president of legal for business operations at PetSmart Inc.

Dave & Buster’s and Edmund didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Edmund received more than $1.3 million in total compensation from Dave & Buster’s in 2021, according to a proxy statement. That pay package was an increase from the roughly $985,000 he earned the year prior. Edmund currently owns $2.3 million in Dave & Buster’s stock, according to Bloomberg data.

At SnapMedTech, known as SnapNurse, Edmunds joins a company that has had an Uber Technologies Inc.-like effect on the nursing industry, according to a story this year by business magazine Inc.

The Atlanta-based company, started in 2017, is seeking new leadership after its founder and chief executive stepped down in July. Edmund said via LinkedIn he’s “eager to learn everything I can about the team and technology.”