Benjamin R. Walker

Selected Cases

• Represented the National Basketball Association in litigation brought by Warner Bros. Discovery and Turner Broadcasting System alleging breaches of a media rights agreement.
• Represented Major League Baseball and certain of its clubs in successful trial against Diamond Sports Group in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas that resulted in an order requiring Diamond to pay the full amount of licensing fees owed under telecast agreements.
• Represented Major League Baseball and its clubs in a range of antitrust and tortious interference actions in New York state and federal courts relating to the reorganization of MLB’s minor league system, including an action that seeks to invalidate MLB’s long-standing exemption from the antitrust laws.
• Represented Major League Baseball in successful defenses of (i) various constitutional and other claims relating to MLB’s decision to move its 2021 All-Star Game out of Georgia following the enactment of Georgia’s voting law; and (ii) consumer protection claims brought by DraftKings fantasy baseball contestants in the Southern District of New York relating to the 2020 electronic sign-stealing allegations.

• Represents Draftkings in putative securities class action alleging that Draftkings’ sports NFTs are unregistered securities.
• Represented Goldman Sachs in obtaining a major victory from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a $13 billion securities case, with the court reversing class certification after 13 years of litigation and establishing important guardrails to the “inflation-maintenance” theory of securities fraud.
• Represented Banco Popular in action brought by former boxer Felix Trinidad in the District of Puerto Rico alleging antitrust claims under the anti-tying provisions of the Bank Holding Company Act.
• Represented LionTree Advisors LLC in an action brought by shareholders of Presidio, Inc. in Delaware Chancery Court alleging breach of fiduciary duty in an M&A transaction.
• Represented Goldman Sachs in an antitrust class action in the District of Massachusetts alleging a bid-rigging conspiracy in the private equity industry.
• Represented Boeing in shareholder derivative actions relating to the 737 Max accidents in 2018 and 2019.
• Represented Goldman Sachs in successful defense of a fiduciary duty and fraud litigation brought by a private equity fund in New York Supreme Court.
• Represented Kynetic LLC and its CEO in breach of contract action brought by former shareholders of internet company purchased by Kynetic in the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court, culminating in a successful jury trial in defendants obtained a favorable verdict on all counts.
• Represented CIM Group in a litigation against Cantor Fitzgerald alleging breaches of a CMBS joint venture agreement in Delaware Chancery Court. The case settled on favorable terms close to trial.
• Represented Moody’s in a qui tam litigation in New York Supreme Court brought by a former employee alleging violations of the New York False Claims Act and retaliation. The case settled on favorable terms after discovery.
• Represented Goldman Sachs in numerous shareholder derivative actions brought in multiple state and federal courts in the wake of the financial crisis, all of which were dismissed.
• Represented Boeing in successful defense of securities class action brought by shareholders in the Northern District of Illinois.

Selected Government Investigations

• Represented a large construction engineering firm in confidential DOJ Antitrust Division bid-rigging investigation.
• Represented a major financial institution in several confidential DOJ Antitrust Division price-fixing and bid-rigging investigations relating to trading in various markets, none of which resulted in any charges.
• Represented Goldman Sachs in bribery and money laundering investigations by DOJ and other agencies relating to the Malaysian sovereign development company 1MDB.
• Represented a major financial institution in confidential DOJ Antitrust Division market allocation and wage-fixing investigations relating to the labor market, neither of which resulted in any charges.
• Represented a major financial institution in DOJ wire fraud and spoofing investigation.