NJ 105.5 – New Jersey’s bid to legalize sports gambling has endured defeat after defeat in the courts, but one big winner has emerged, at taxpayer expense – the law firm hired to help Gov. Chris Christie defend a lawsuit filed by the four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA.
The firm – Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher – is the same one Christie hired, also with public money, to investigate the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal that is plaguing his administration. According to figures obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request, Gibson Dunn billed the state for $2.8 million in fees between August 2012, when the leagues sued to stop Christie from going ahead with his plan to sports gambling licenses, and the end of 2013.
The total amount to be borne by taxpayers will be higher when other attorneys’ fees are added; for example, former Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and former Senate President Steve Sweeney became part of the case in November 2012, but information on their fees was not available from the attorney general’s office.
“We have an $800 million budget deficit,” said state Sen. Shirley Turner, one of the few lawmakers to vote against amending the New Jersey Constitution in 2012 to allow sports gambling. “We don’t have the money to spend on something on which the odds were long. It could have been better spent for so many other things, to help people in the state who need the help.”
The firm’s fees come atop hundreds of thousands of dollars it is anticipated to bill the state for the traffic-jam investigation, according to media reports. The legislature has also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars investigating. Neither a spokesman for Christie nor the law firm responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press. The state’s last chance for the gambling case is for the U.S. Supreme Court to take it up, a decision that could come this month.
New Jersey’s bid to legalize sports gambling has endured defeat after defeat in the courts, but one big winner has emerged, at taxpayer expense – the law firm hired to help Gov. Chris Christie defend a lawsuit filed by the four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA.
The firm – Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher – is the same one Christie hired, also with public money, to investigate the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal that is plaguing his administration.
According to figures obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request, Gibson Dunn billed the state for $2.8 million in fees between August 2012, when the leagues sued to stop Christie from going ahead with his plan to sports gambling licenses, and the end of 2013.
The total amount to be borne by taxpayers will be higher when other attorneys’ fees are added; for example, former Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and former Senate President Steve Sweeney became part of the case in November 2012, but information on their fees was not available from the attorney general’s office.
Read More: NJ Sports Gambling Suit Tab Hits $2.8M | http://nj1015.com/nj-sports-gambling-suit-tab-hits-2-8m/?trackback=tsmclip
New Jersey’s bid to legalize sports gambling has endured defeat after defeat in the courts, but one big winner has emerged, at taxpayer expense – the law firm hired to help Gov. Chris Christie defend a lawsuit filed by the four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA.
The firm – Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher – is the same one Christie hired, also with public money, to investigate the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal that is plaguing his administration.
According to figures obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request, Gibson Dunn billed the state for $2.8 million in fees between August 2012, when the leagues sued to stop Christie from going ahead with his plan to sports gambling licenses, and the end of 2013.
The total amount to be borne by taxpayers will be higher when other attorneys’ fees are added; for example, former Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and former Senate President Steve Sweeney became part of the case in November 2012, but information on their fees was not available from the attorney general’s office.
Read More: NJ Sports Gambling Suit Tab Hits $2.8M | http://nj1015.com/nj-sports-gambling-suit-tab-hits-2-8m/?trackback=tsmclip
New Jersey’s bid to legalize sports gambling has endured defeat after defeat in the courts, but one big winner has emerged, at taxpayer expense – the law firm hired to help Gov. Chris Christie defend a lawsuit filed by the four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA.
The firm – Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher – is the same one Christie hired, also with public money, to investigate the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal that is plaguing his administration.
According to figures obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request, Gibson Dunn billed the state for $2.8 million in fees between August 2012, when the leagues sued to stop Christie from going ahead with his plan to sports gambling licenses, and the end of 2013.
The total amount to be borne by taxpayers will be higher when other attorneys’ fees are added; for example, former Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and former Senate President Steve Sweeney became part of the case in November 2012, but information on their fees was not available from the attorney general’s office.
Read More: NJ Sports Gambling Suit Tab Hits $2.8M | http://nj1015.com/nj-sports-gambling-suit-tab-hits-2-8m/?trackback=tsmclip
