Kolesar & Leatham attorney speaks on sports law, betting scandals at international law conference

Dec. 10, 2012 - PRLog -- LAS VEGAS - Robert Caldwell, a shareholder at Kolesar & Leatham, one of Nevada's largest independent law firms, was recently a keynote speaker on “Match Fixing and Other Frauds in Sports” at an international legal conference held in Dresden, Germany.

Caldwell’s keynote address discussed the history of sporting scandals in the United States, dating back to the 1919 World Series and the famous Chicago “Black Sox” scandal, and the U.S. laws used to prosecute criminal match fixing.  Caldwell also focused on how legalized, regulated sports gaming in Nevada helps to prevent match fixing, and how Nevada and its sports books have often caught such scandals and reported them to law enforcement.

His speech was given to the Sports Law Commission during the 57th Congress of the UIA (International Association of Lawyers) that brings together more than 1,000 lawyers from around the world.  Caldwell was the only delegate from Nevada to attend the Congress.  Caldwell, who is fluent in German, made opening remarks in German before conducting the address in English.

“Most of the international lawyers did not realize that although legal sports gaming in Nevada accounts for less than 1 percent of sports betting in the United States, our sports books do a great job of detecting and reporting suspected match fixing to the authorities to investigate and prosecute,” said Caldwell.  

Since joining Kolesar & Leatham in 2002, Caldwell has help expand the firm’s sports law practice.  He has had extensive experience with sports law matters, having represented numerous sports clients including the Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati Reds, NFL All-Pro kicker Rob Bironas of the Tennessee Titans and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) heavyweight fighter Eric Prindle.

“I was very impressed by Robert's thorough presentation of the history of major fraud cases in American sports and how the institutions, particularly regulated sports gaming, were able to tackle the issue of match fixing and fraud to ensure that professional sports in the U.S. can be as clean as possible,” said Xavier Favre-Bulle, partner with Lenz & Staehelin in Geneva and president of the UIA Sports Law Commission.

“I was honored to have the opportunity to take my experience in American sports law and share it with such a diverse and talented group of international attorneys,” added Caldwell. “This conference offers a great forum to show how Nevada’s legalized and regulated sports gaming industry can help to eliminate fraud in sports and even uncover scandals. The attendees were eager to learn how our state’s gaming laws and regulated industry can be a model for the world in combating frauds in sports.”