Major Setback for WWE in Their Ongoing Lawsuit Against MLW

By Uddipta Das On Jul 6, 2023 0

Major League Wrestling (MLW) sued WWE in January 2022, claiming that WWE was unfairly taking over the wrestling business. WWE was charged by MLW of improperly interfering with their capacity to approach the media. As a result, MLW claimed that WWE violated the law by not allowing fair competition.

Lawyer Jerry McDevitt has been working for the big sports entertainment company for a long time. He has been associated with the company and Vince McMahon since 1987. He was handling the MLW lawsuit for WWE. But now, he said he won’t be representing WWE anymore in the case, which is a big setback for the company.

Jerry McDevitt will stop representing WWE

WWE has been going through a lot of big changes recently, and one of them is the Endeavor takeover. This latest news might not be good for them in their lawsuit with MLW. In an interview with Wrestlenomics, the lawyer who has been defending WWE for a long time explained why he decided to stop representing WWE in their case against MLW.

McDevitt said that he has been thinking about retiring since the beginning of last year, and now he believes it’s the right time to do it because he is 74 years old.

He thought the court would dismiss the case like it did before, but that didn’t happen. So he thinks the case will continue until 2025. He told his client to find someone else to replace him because he plans to finish everything by the end of the year. He mentioned that he worked for WWE for 36 years and enjoyed being a part of it. He cherished the wonderful moments he had with Vince McMahon and said he would gladly help him in the future in any way he can.

Jerry McDevitt will no longer be representing WWE in the ongoing antitrust lawsuit filed by MLW.

WWE’s long-time defense attorney tells Wrestlenomics he’s transitioning toward retirement.https://t.co/AtRD7P0vKP

— Wrestlenomics (@wrestlenomics) July 5, 2023

Since McDevitt from K&L Gates is retiring, WWE has chosen other well-known professionals in the field of law and justice to assist them with the MLW lawsuit.

Lawyers from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Warton & Garrison LLP are hired

After McDevitt left, WWE recruited a team of lawyers from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. The new lawyers are Walter Brown, Karen Dunn, William Michael, and Brette Tannenbaum. They will now represent WWE in the ongoing MLW lawsuit.

Paul, Weiss lawyers have previously worked with WWE, assisting them in the UFC-WWE merger. This situation does not appear to be favorable for WWE, and with McDevitt no longer involved, it will be interesting to see the final outcome.

Vince McMahon