Pioneering sports agent Tom Reich, former National Basketball Players Association general counsel Bob Lanza and George Daniel, the former commissioner of the National Lacrosse League, have formed a new sports law firm.
The new firm — Lanza, Reich & Daniel — will be based in New York and handle sports legal matters for players, agents, teams, leagues and owners.
 |
REICH
|
Reich, a former NHL and MLB agent, represented superstars across sports including Mario Lemieux, Mo Vaughn, Joe Morgan, Sammy Sosa and Chris Chelios, and has owned major sports agencies including the former Reich, Katz and Landis.
Lanza was the general counsel of the NBPA from 1997 though 2002. Since then he has worked on legal matters in sports representing players, agents and owners.
 |
LANZA
|
Daniel is joining the firm after stepping down last week as commissioner of the NLL, a position he had held since January 2009. The NLL said last week that Daniel would continue to serve as counsel to the league.
Lanza said the three men have known one another for years and have long talked about forming a business where they could work together.
 |
DANIEL
|
“We all have different talents,” Lanza said. “We just decided, ‘Let’s go for it. Let’s put it together. Let’s make it work.’”
Lanza said that although he could not name specific clients, the firm has several already, including a “very wealthy group of investors” who are trying to form a basketball league in the Middle East. Additionally, Lanza said, the firm has been retained by another group that wants to build an arena for a professional sports franchise to play in the U.S. He declined to identify that group or say what sport they were eyeing.
“We are representing an NFL team,” said Lanza, who added that he could not name the team.
Daniel said that his contract was up at the NLL and that he has let owners of NLL teams know that he was considering leaving for quite a while. He will serve as outside counsel until the NLL finds a replacement.
“It’s been in the works for about six months,” he said of the new venture.
Daniel said, after leading the NLL, he is excited about the opportunity to do work in other sports.
“I have been with the league for 15 years, and seven as commissioner, and at this point in my life I want to do one more thing — at least one more thing — in my professional life,” Daniel said.
