Madison Square Garden Welcomes New GC Amid Ongoing Lawyer Ban

The owner of iconic New York arena Madison Square Garden, which has a controversial policy of banning entry to lawyers in litigation against billionaire James Dolan’s entertainment properties, is hiring a new legal chief.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. and its sibling, Sphere Entertainment Co., owner of the similarly named new concert venue that opened last year in Las Vegas with a $2.3 billion price tag, have announced that Laura Franco will be their general counsel as of Feb. 20.

Franco is chief legal and compliance officer for Bumble Inc., a dating app company that hired her in late 2020 from the general counsel role at CBS Corp. Franco received a nearly $5 million pay package from Bumble in 2023.

In December, a New York appellate court unanimously reversed a lower court ruling that MSGE needed to refund lawyers with valid tickets to its venues. The dispute arose after MSGE implemented what became publicly known as a “lawyer ban,” which precluded individuals at firms with active litigation against the company from attending events at its venues until that litigation is resolved.

King & Spalding’s Randy Mastro represented MSGE in a lawsuit filed in 2022 by Larry Hutcher, a season ticket holder of the NBA’s New York Knicks—owned by Dolan’s Madison Square Garden Sports Corp—who was barred along with roughly 60 other lawyers from Davidoff Hutcher & Citron. MSGE uses facial recognition software to help identify those restricted from its properties.

New York’s liquor authority threatened to pull MSGE’s license to sell alcohol at its venues unless the “lawyer ban” was reversed. The company, however, ultimately prevailed in arguing that as a private entertainment operator it has the right to exclude anyone from its three venues—Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, and the Beacon Theatre—in New York City. Mastro noted the policy applied to a few hundred people, or roughly 0.8% of lawyers in the city.

Bans in ‘Full Effect’

A source briefed on the matter said that with the appellate ruling in its favor toward year’s end, MSGE’s policy remains in “full effect.” All lawyers impacted by the policy have been notified that upon resolution of any underlying litigation they will be welcomed back into company venues, the source said.

Hutcher, for his part, told the New York Post in December he’s attending Knicks games again now that he no longer has active litigation pending against MSGE. The New York Law Journal reported that same month the company still faces litigation and regulatory scrutiny over its use of facial identification technology.

Flareups between MSGE and lawyers looking to enjoy a night out have continued. Barry Kamins, a retired judge affiliated with New York’s Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins, which is representing a client suing the New York-based company, recently told the Brooklyn Eagle he was considering a civil rights lawsuit after being barred from attending a Cirque Du Soleil performance.

MSGE declined to comment. Franco, who at Bumble tackled thorny legal issues such as reproductive rights, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Legal Group Changes

Franco takes over a top legal role previously held by Jamal Haughton, who left MSGE in November to become general counsel for Charter Communications Inc., owner of the cable brand Spectrum. MSGE paid more than $1.7 million last year to Haughton, who also received about $3 million that same year in his role as the top lawyer at Sphere, according to securities filings.

Both companies were formed after Madison Square Garden Co. divided its sports and entertainment assets into separate companies. MSG Sports disclosed it paid more than $2.3 million to its legal chief Jamaal Lesane in 2023.

Lawrence Burian, the longtime top lawyer for MSG Co., stepped down from his jobs at both successor companies in mid-2022. In October, Burian was named chief operating officer for professional golf startup LIV Golf and brought with him former MSGE associate general counsel Marc Schoenfeld.

MSGE hired Zev Singer in December as a vice president of employment law. He spent the past two years as an assistant general counsel for employment and litigation at retailer Party City Holdco Inc.