Harris Hagan

20Jan

ICE Barcelona 2025: John Hagan to moderate a panel of sports and industry experts

20th January 2025 Harris Hagan 4

From 20 – 22 January 2025, ICE will be bringing together the entire gaming industry over three days of networking and education in Barcelona.

On Tuesday, Co-founder and Partner, John Hagan will moderate a panel at the World Regulatory Briefing on Betting on the Future: A United Team on Sports Integrity.

Following a historic summer of sporting success at the Olympics, Wimbledon and Euros, and with the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, the focus on match fixing and sport integrity continues to grow, fuelled by media reports of high-profile athletes placing wagers on their sport and criminal involvement in the manipulation of fair play and other forms of corruption, damaging public perception. Featuring representatives from major sports leagues and betting industry experts, this session will address the nature and scale of the issue, the reputational and economic impact, and how stakeholders can work together to prevent match fixing and build a sustainable betting market.

John will be joined by the following panellists:

Angela Celestino, Intelligence Manager – UEFA
Dieter Braekeveld, Intelligence and Investigations Manager – International Olympic Committee
Luke Saunders, Vice President Commercial – OpenBet
Matt Fowler, Head of Global Operations – International Betting Integrity Association

Please see the below details for your calendar:

Date: Tuesday 21 January 2025

Time: 10:05am – 10:50am CET

Location: CC5.1, Fira Barcelona Gran Via

For more details, please click here.

Alongside John, Partners Bahar Alaeddini and David Whyte will be attending ICE Barcelona 2025. Please get in touch with us if you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss the UK market and how Harris Hagan may support you.

23Dec

Chambers Gaming Law 2024 Global Practice Guide

23rd December 2024 Harris Hagan 42

We are pleased to announce that Bahar Alaeddini has resumed her role as Contributing Editor to the Chambers Global Practice Guide for Gaming Law 2024, and Jessica Wilson has again contributed as a co-author. The latest edition of the Gaming Law 2024 guide is now live and provides an overview of the licensing and regulatory regimes in 38 jurisdictions, including many of the major global jurisdictions. The UK chapter is available below.

Gaming Law 2024 is a helpful guide to lawyers, gambling businesses and others in the industry. It provides legal information on a range of topics, including: land-based and online gambling; B2C and B2B licences; application requirements; affiliates; white labels; responsible gambling; AML legislation; restrictions on advertising; acquisitions and changes of control; trends in social gaming, esports, fantasy sports and blockchain; and taxation.

Harris Hagan contributed to the following parts of the publication:

The Trends and Developments section highlights key trends in each jurisdiction, and the practice guide also provides users with the opportunity to perform jurisdiction comparisons using the Compare locations tool.

Chambers_Gaming, Gambling & Licensing 2024_038_uk Download

19Dec

John Hagan to moderate IAGA webinar on the White Paper

19th December 2024 Harris Hagan 43

Our Managing Partner, John Hagan, will host the International Association of Gaming Advisors (IAGA) Best Practices Webinar titled “Setting the UK Gambling Agenda for 2025: a less political year?”, with the following three esteemed speakers, to address the latest updates, challenges, and opportunities in the White Paper:

📅 Wednesday 15 January 2025

🕰️ 8am PST / 11am EST / 4pm GMT

🔖 Sign up here: https://lnkd.in /e4KTbCn9

The webinar is free to attend, including for non-members, but only IAGA members will be able to watch the webinar recording.

18Oct

Gemma Boore to moderate direct marketing roundtable at EGR London Summit during Safer Gambling Week

18th October 2024 Harris Hagan 67

Senior Associate, Gemma Boore will be co-hosting a roundtable discussion at the EGR London Summit 2024, which takes place next week on 23 October 2024 at etc.venues Chancery Lane.

Gemma, alongside co-host David Murphy, Chief Marketing Officer at QiH Group, will moderate the roundtable, Direct marketing practice: striking the right balance for brand awareness and customer choice, during which attendees will share their perspectives on gambling marketing and advertising.

Gemma will share her legal perspective on the unique challenges faced by the gambling industry when marketing their brands. For example, the Gambling Commission’s proposals regarding direct marketing and cross-selling, which Gemma previously discussed in her blog: White Paper Series: Direct marketing and cross-selling in the crossfire. Further information and discussion regarding the Gambling Commission’s implementation of these proposals (which will come into force on 1 May 2025) can be found in our subsequent blog: Gambling Commission publishes Summer 2023 Consultation Response and Betting & Gaming Council announces New Industry Voluntary Code.

The EGR London Summit 2024 is an exclusive industry event and includes a full agenda of discussions throughout the day focussing on safer gambling strategies and broader regulatory updates.

For more information and to apply to attend, visit the EGR London Summit website.

17Oct

Harris Hagan retains top tier rankings in 2025 Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500

17th October 2024 Harris Hagan 71

We are delighted to announce that Harris Hagan has again been ranked in the top tier in both Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500 for 2025.

Chambers and Partners

Harris Hagan has been ranked in Band 1 for Gaming for the 21^st consecutive year.

“The team is first-rate and has extensive experience in the sector. We have full confidence in the ability of the Harris Hagan team to provide us with first-class service.”

Partners John Hagan and Bahar Alaeddini continue to be recognised in Band 1 and Partner David Whyte has been recognised in Band 3. Consultant Hilary Stewart-Jones is ranked as a Senior Statesperson and Senior Associate Gemma Boore together with Associate Francesca Burnett-Hall, continue to be recognised as Associates to Watch.

Together our lawyers constitute 6 of the 25 gaming lawyers recognised in the directory, befitting our status as a leading specialist gambling law firm. We were also invited by Chambers to write the introduction to the practice area.

We received many positive testimonials, including:

“Every lawyer I have dealt with at the firm is excellent; they know exactly what is going on in the market. This means they are able to provide thorough but also commercial and pragmatic advice.”

“John Hagan is first-class. He is one of the most experienced and impressive gaming lawyers.”

“Bahar has deep relationships in the industry and an ability to solve complex gaming issues in a client-friendly way. She is second to none in that regard.”

“David is extremely knowledgeable of the gambling industry. He is able to provide very thorough advice, whilst also being very direct, pragmatic and to the point.”

“Hilary’s experience of the market is invaluable.”

“Gemma has done excellent work and we would welcome any opportunity to continue working with Gemma in the future.”

“Francesca is very capable, always available and very prompt with every task.”

The Legal 500

Harris Hagan continues to be ranked as Tier 1 for Gaming and Betting in the UK.

“Harris Hagan is, by some margin, the leading specialist firm in the U.K. gaming industry. Their team has unrivalled expertise in gaming regulation and licensing.”

Managing Partner John Hagan, alongside Consultant Hilary Stewart-Jones continue to be listed in The Legal 500’s Hall of Fame, Partner Bahar Alaeddini is listed as a Leading Partner, and Partner David Whyte is listed as a Next Generation Partner. Senior Associate Jessica Wilson is also recognised as a Leading Associate.

We received many positive testimonials, including:

“They have seen it all, and are able to bring their deep experience and deep industry knowledge and connection to bear to provide high quality, pragmatic advice.”

“Their ability to understand our industry in-depth makes them stand out from the rest. They are so invested in understanding all aspects that it enhances the knowledge and guidance they provide.”

“John Hagan is the most prominent U.K. gaming lawyer and is a widely known and respected figure in our industry.”

“‘Friendly, approachable, advice and guidance is not always done in legal jargon, they have a great way of describing a situation in layman’s terms. David Whyte covers all these areas with excellence.”

We would like to thank all of our clients to whom we are incredibly grateful for your continuing instructions and for helping us achieve these impressive rankings.

02Oct

Global Gaming Expo 2024: Bahar Alaeddini to moderate a stellar panel of regulators

2nd October 2024 Harris Hagan 79

From 7-10 October 2024, the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) will make its grand return to The Venetian Expo.

In partnership with the International Association of Gaming Advisors (“IAGA”), it will host the panel Where Sports Betting’s Growth Sits on the Regulatory Agenda, which will be moderated by IAGA General Counsel and Harris Hagan Partner, Bahar Alaeddini.

The panel will examine the rapidly expanding US-based betting landscape after the pivotal overturn of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act 1992 by the US Supreme Court, and feature insights from the following stellar panel of regulators:

Andrew Rhodes, Chief Executive, British Gambling Commission
Dennis Mullen, General Counsel, Indiana Gaming Commission
Kirk Hendrick, Chairman, Nevada Gaming Control Board
Marcus Fruchter, Administrator (Executive Director), Illinois Gaming Board

Please see the below details for your calendar:

Date: Monday 7 October 2024

Time: 09:00 – 09:50 PST

Location: Bellini 2101, The Venetian Expo

Over the course of the conference, IAGA will also be hosting a wide range of sessions focused on other key issues facing global gaming.

Bahar will be attending G2E with John Hagan. Please get in touch if you would like to arrange a meeting.

30Sep

Harris Hagan promotes Jessica Wilson to Senior Associate

30th September 2024 Harris Hagan 76

Harris Hagan is delighted to announce that Jessica Wilson will be promoted to Senior Associate with effect from 1 October 2024.

Jessica has been a tremendous asset to the firm since joining as a newly qualified solicitor in 2019, working on the specialist due diligence and licensing aspects of some of the largest M&A transactions in the gambling sector in recent years, as well as advising our clients generally on gambling law and regulatory matters.

We congratulate Jessica on her achievement and we are confident that she will contribute enormously to the continued success of the firm.

11Sep

Julian Harris to speak at the International Association of Gaming Regulators and International Masters of Gaming Law conference in Rome

11th September 2024 Harris Hagan 81

Consultant & Founder, Julian Harris will be speaking on the panel at the International Association of Gaming Regulators (“IAGR”) and International Masters of Gaming Law conference in Rome which takes place this year from 21-24 October 2024.

The panel, How do the regulator, the regulated and the interested and affected parties work best together? will seek to provide a fresh perspective on where the opportunities to work better together really exist, especially in light of the different values and goals that the gambling sector stakeholder ecosystem is trying to achieve.

Julian will be joined by fellow panellists on Wednesday 23 October:

Atle Hamar, General Director, Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority, Norway
Annette Kimmitt AM, CEO, Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission, Australia
Kevin Mullally, CEO, General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, United Arab Emirates
Ewout Keuleers, General Counsel, Kindred Group, Germany

For further details and to book your tickets, see IAGR’s website.

09Sep

Harris Hagan speaks at the Backing The Punt conference

9th September 2024 Harris Hagan 81

Harris Hagan is delighted to join the leading Australian gambling law firm Senet, virtually, for their two-day conference, Backing the Punt. The conference will focus on the issues, challenges and opportunities facing the betting and racing industry in Australia.

The event will take place on 11-12 September 2024 at the RACV City Club & Conference Centre in Melbourne. Partner, Bahar Alaeddini, will be joining virtually on 11 September 2024 to speak on the panel, International showcase – what are the trends and developments in international wagering, racing and sports betting?.

The panel will be moderated by Julian Hoskins, Principal at Senet, and the other panellists will include:

Ben Haden, Director of Research and Statistics at the British Gambling Commission
Scott Scherer, Shareholder at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Joseph Borg, Partner, WH Partners

For full details and tickets, see Senet’s website.

02Sep

Global Gaming Women – Championing Inclusivity Webinar

2nd September 2024 Harris Hagan 85

On Tuesday 3 September 2024, at 12.45pm-2.15pm BST. Global Gaming Women (“GGW”) will host a webinar titled “Championing Inclusivity”.

The webinar will be co-moderated by Harris Hagan Partner, Bahar Alaeddini, and Christina Thor-Rankin (Principal Consultant 1710 Gaming). Together with the panellists, they will discuss the opportunities and challenges faced by women of colour in the industry.

The other panellists will include:

Monia Shafaq, Chief Executive Officer at Gordon Moody
Natasha Whittaker, Director of People Strategy, Operations and Governance at Games Global
Natasha Harris, Executive Director for People Services at the British Gambling Commission
Pallavi Deshmukh, Chief Executive Officer at NetGaming
Stephanie Wong, Head of Policy at the Betting and Gaming Council

To attend, please register here.

Harris Hagan

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