The UFC will appeal a recent court decision to dismiss its legal challenge to the law that bans MMA in the state of New York, and company officials have retained Paul Clement, a former United States Solicitor General, to represent the company in that effort.
The UFC announced the move Tuesday in a news release.
“I am delighted to be representing the UFC in this important challenge to New York’s outdated and unconstitutional law,” Clement stated in the release. “Even New York officials are confused about the scope of this hopelessly unclear law, and by targeting professional MMA matches and exhibitions, the law raises First Amendment problems of the first order."
UFC has retained Paul Clement former US Solicitor General to spearhead the organization’s appeals process challenging legality of NY MMA ban
— Ron Kruck (@rkruck) April 21, 2015
In late March, district court judge Kimba Wood dismissed the UFC's initial lawsuit. But Wood did so on grounds that may ultimately be favorable to the UFC's case: Wood ruled that the law was so vague that it was too difficult to understand what, exactly, the law was attempting to prohibit.
The UFC's decision to appeal is just one part of a multipronged effort to legalize pro MMA matches and exhibitions in New York, the last of the 50 states in which pro MMA is still banned.
UFC leaders are cautiously optimistic that changes in the state legislature—including the arrest of Sheldon Silver, a prominent lawmaker and staunch opponent of MMA legalization—have created a more pro-MMA environment.
Carl Heastie, who replaced Silver as Speaker of the Assembly, has previously sponsored bills to legalize the sport.
Though proponents hope the state will legalize MMA before the current legislative session ends in June, UFC officials apparently are not resting on those particular laurels, as evidenced by the UFC's decision to hire a heavy-hitting lawyer in Clement to represent its legal interests. Though its specific legal strategy is unclear, it is apparent that the UFC is not going to cede any ground without a fight.
Clement is a partner at Washington law firm Bancroft PLLC and has previously represented the NBA and NFL during labor negotiations. He served as solicitor general from 2005 to 2008.
“We retained Paul Clement, one of the nation’s most highly respected appellate lawyers, to aggressively appeal the lower court’s technical dismissal of this matter,” UFC Chief Legal Officer Kirk Hendrick said in the UFC's news release. “Clement shares our view that New York’s law is unconstitutional and dangerous, and we will get the decision overturned.”
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