Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, 80, has hired pioneering antitrust attorney, Maxwell Blecher, 80, the founding partner of Blecher Collins Pepperman & Joye, P.C, to represent him in his battle with the NBA.
Mr. Blecher has nearly 60-years of taking major corporations and institutions to court-often winning. Sterling has been fined $2.5 million by the NBA last month and has been banned him from the league because of racist comments he made.
According to Sports Illustrated, Mr. Blecher wrote a letter to NBA executive vice president and general counsel Rick Buchanan asserting that “no punishment is warranted” and rejecting the league’s demand for payment. Mr. Blecher argued in his letter that his client hasn’t violated any article of the NBA’s constitution and that the league has violated Mr. Sterling’s “due process rights.”
An NBA spokesman refused to comment the current situation. Mr. Blecher’s career started in 1956. In his 20’s he was a lawyer for the United States Justice Department. His specialty has been underdog antitrust battles against powerful figures, including the NBA and the NFL. In the 1980’s, he represented the Clippers in a dispute with the NBA over the team’s right to relocate to Los Angeles from San Diego.
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