ARMONK, NY - January 14, 2008 - The law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP recently secured the dismissal of all claims at summary judgment for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing ("NASCAR") in Kentucky Speedway, LLC v. NASCAR before Judge William O. Bertelsman in the Eastern District of Kentucky.
In July 2005, Kentucky Speedway brought monopolization and conspiracy antitrust claims against NASCAR and its affiliate International Speedway Corporation ("ISC") and sought more than $1.2 billion in damages. Kentucky Speedway's suit had the potential to force NASCAR to change the way that it had been doing business for more than 50 years-an outcome that would have had drastic consequences for the client's future, and could have had a broader impact on the freedom of other sports leagues to choose their membership rules and sports venues. However, a team of BSF lawyers from the Firm's Armonk, N.Y.; New York, N.Y.; and Ft. Lauderdale, FL. offices litigated the case through the summary judgment stage, successfully arguing that Kentucky Speedway was a "jilted distributor" and that the plaintiff had failed to define a relevant antitrust market. On January 7, 2008, Judge Bertelsman agreed that this "is essentially a ‘jilted distributor' case," and that "a producer of a product is free under current antitrust laws to select its distributors and to refuse to deal with would-be distributors, no matter how worthy or deserving they may be."
"This decision is a great outcome for our client," said Helen M. Maher a partner in the Firm's Armonk office, who led the litigation together with senior partner Stuart Singer and Firm Chairman David Boies. "Courts do not lightly dismiss cases on summary judgment. We worked hard to achieve this result and we're proud of it."
Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, founded in 1997, has become one of the nation's premier law firms. It has approximately 240 lawyers in offices located in New York, Washington, D.C., California, Florida, New Hampshire and Nevada. Best known for landmark cases such as United States v. Microsoft, Bush v. Gore, and In re Vitamins, the firm represents some of the largest and most sophisticated organizations in the world in their most important matters. Chambers USA, the leading international guide to law firms, has reported on the firm's "‘exceptional' reputation," and called its practice "nationally renowned." The firm has been described by The Wall Street Journal as a "national litigation powerhouse," by the National Law Journal as "unafraid to venture into controversial" and "high risk" matters.