The Memphis Grizzlies have hired Salvatore Romanello as general counsel and senior vice president of business administration for the professional basketball club.
Romanello, a former commercial litigation partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York, joined the Grizzlies last month, the club confirmed.
The team, led by all-star point guard Ja Morant, is currently in second place in the National Basketball Association’s Western Conference.
Romanello didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Grizzlies hired Romanello from 605 LLC, an audience and data analytics company focused on the media and entertainment industries. The company’s founder and CEO is Kristin Dolan, the wife of New York Knicks owner and media mogul James Dolan. Romanello left Weil to become 605’s general counsel in 2018.
AMC Networks Inc., a struggling cable company controlled by James Dolan, announced Wednesday that Kristin Dolan will become its new CEO later this month.
Romanello spent nearly 22 years in private practice at Weil. He represented the National Restaurant Association in its challenge of an ill-fated ban by New York City on large sugary drinks, as well as various financial services clients.
Zachary Kleiman, a former Proskauer Rose associate, has spent the past four years as general manager for the Grizzlies.
Other lawyers employed by the club include senior manager of basketball operations and associate team counsel Ty Lai, a former summer associate at Latham & Watkins, and assistant coach Sonia Raman, the first-ever Indian American woman hired as an NBA coach. Raman previously worked for the US Department of Labor and in the risk and compliance division at Fidelity Investments.
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