Christopher L. Soriano
Associate
Duane Morris LLP
1940 Route 70 East, Suite 200
Cherry Hill, NJ 08003
USA
Phone: +1 856 874 4228
Fax: +1 856 874 4388
Email: csoriano@duanemorris.com

Christopher L. Soriano, a member of the firm's Trial Practice Group, concentrates his practice on gaming law and commercial litigation.

As a gaming lawyer, Mr. Soriano has represented casinos, private equity and hedge funds, gaming technology manufacturers and equipment suppliers, and individuals in all aspects of the licensing and regulatory process. He has practiced before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and New Jersey Casino Control Commission, and has assisted clients with regulatory applications and compliance in many states and provinces in the United States and Canada. He has also represented gaming industry clients in litigation.

As a litigator, Mr. Soriano has experience handling, among other cases, complex class actions, consumer fraud cases, public contracting disputes, construction matters, administrative complaints, and special education cases.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Mr. Soriano is a 2003 cum laude graduate of Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he was a staff member and business editor of Temple Law Review. He is a 2000 magna cum laude graduate of George Washington University, having majored in political science. Prior to entering the practice of law, Mr. Soriano served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Thomas J. Rueter, U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Soriano is active in his community, where he serves as Vice Chair of the Planning Board of the Borough of Haddon Heights, as one of Haddon Heights' elected representatives to the Camden County Republican Committee, and as a member of the Order Sons of Italy in America, Lodge 2311, where he serves on the Arbitration Committee. He has been the chairman of several successful local political campaigns.

Representative Matters

• Represented the effective owners of the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel in obtaining a dissolution of an ex parte temporary restraining order (TRO) concerning a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement involving an entity affiliated with a company that does business as PokerStars.
• Represented Sportech PLC in the acquisition of eBet Online Inc. by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sportech, Inc.
• Obtained a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that a district court erred by denying a preliminary injunction in a corporate governance dispute involving a closely held limited liability company. Health & Body Store, LLC v. JustBrand Ltd., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 9604 (3d Cir. May 11, 2012).
• RIH Acquisitions NJ, LLC v. City of Atlantic City - Obtained on behalf of Atlantic Club Casino Hotel a tax credit in the approximate amount of $19.44 million in the settlement of a tax assessment litigation case.
• Counsel to major Canadian distributor of professional hair care and beauty supply products joined as third party defendant in pending Lanham Act litigation involving claims that distributor was engaged in supplying counterfeit professional products to the defendant. Obtained dismissal on behalf of distributor from United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
• Represented one of the world’s largest gaming companies in receiving approvals for a complex financing transaction, which presented an issue of first impression before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
• Served as a member of a multidisciplinary team that concluded several casino acquisitions in Atlantic City.
• Regularly represent a number of high net worth individuals and their affiliated businesses in the gaming licensing process.
• Represented a lottery technology provider in one of the largest successful bid protests in New Jersey history.
• Represented a major worldwide television and internet retailer in the defense of several class actions brought against it based on its sales practices.
• Represented the court chartered settlement trust in a $3.6 billion nationwide class action settlement, including extensive appellate practice resulting in several published opinions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
• Obtained on behalf of parents of a disabled child a ruling that parents have a right to meaningful participation in the development of their children's Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and that children with disabilities must be afforded Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in light of their abilities.

Professional Activities

• Member, New Jersey State Bar Association
  - Vice-Chair and Legislative Coordinator, Casino Law Section
  - Young Lawyers' Division
• Appointed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey to a four-year term on the District IV Ethics Committee

Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• New Jersey

Education

• Temple University Beasley School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2003
  - Business Editor and Staff Member, Temple Law Review
• George Washington University, B.A, magna cum laude, 2000

Honors and Awards

• Listed in New Jersey Super Lawyers "Rising Stars," 2011, 2012
• Recipient of the Nat M. Wolfsohn Award for Excellence in Real Property

Selected Publications

• Author, "The Efforts to Legalize Sports Betting in New Jersey—A History," New Jersey Lawyer, April 2013
• Author, "The Tribal Online Gambling Act 2012: The Legal Debate Begins," World Online Gambling Law Report, November 2012
• Author, “Mobile Gaming Devices – The Choice of a New Generation,” Travel Law Quarterly, September 2012
• Co-author, "Construction in the Casino Industry," Modern Contractor Solutions, December 2010
• Co-author, "Philadelphia Lawyers Get Ringside Seats for Roberts Confirmation Hearing," Philadelphia Bar Reporter, October 2005

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Speaker, Pennsylvania Bar Institute's Primer on Mechanics' Liens and Bond Claims, Philadelphia, August 30, 2011
• Speaker, Sterling Education Services' Construction Law A to Z, Philadelphia, December 9, 2008