Since the early 1990s, Jones Walker has been actively involved in counseling major casino companies, suppliers, financial institutions, private equity interests and other investors on all matters relating to the development, acquisition, financing, and operation of gaming facilities across the Gulf South and elsewhere, including video poker, riverboat gaming, land-based casinos and cruises to nowhere. Our services also cover sweepstakes, raffles, internet gaming and lotteries. Our attorneys are available to assist with a wide variety of issues in more mature gaming jurisdictions such as Louisiana and Mississippi, as well to provide advice and counsel with respect to emerging gaming jurisdictions such as Alabama, Florida, and Texas, and other jurisdictions where we practice.

Licensing, Regulatory, Compliance & Enforcement

Jones Walker attorneys have extensive experience advising and assisting gaming clients on suitability applications in connection with licensing and permitting, compliance, and the interpretation of the gaming statutes and regulations. We represent clients in proceedings before state gaming regulatory bodies, including, but not limited to, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board and Louisiana State Police Gaming Enforcement Division and the Mississippi Gaming Commission. Our substantial experience in working with state gaming regulators and the attorney general’s office in the states in which we practice provides significant benefits to our clients.

Tribal Gaming

Our attorneys have experience helping clients understand and appreciate the variations in law regarding tribal gaming issues, particularly as it relates to Tribal-State relationships, Class II and Class III issues, and financing of tribal gaming facilities. We counsel our clients on the dynamic created by a Tribe's sovereignty as it relates to its interactions with both the governmental and private sectors, and help find workable solutions for issues that arise.

Internet Gaming

Our Government Relations attorneys in Washington, D.C. have been integrally involved in financial services legislation and other legislation pertaining to Internet Gaming which, combined with the extensive experience of our Gaming attorneys, allows us to provide both domestic and foreign clients a broad range of services related to this burgeoning field of gaming in the United States.

Operations

Our attorneys routinely advise on operational issues, including negotiating and documenting a wide variety of commercial contracts, such as employment contracts, consulting contracts, non-competition agreements, confidentiality agreements, entertainment contracts, leases, and purchase agreements.

Financing

On behalf of gaming companies, financial institutions, private equity groups and other investors, our attorneys handle secured and unsecured loans, debt and bond offerings, common and preferred stock offerings, and restructurings for both development and continuing operations of gaming projects, as well as equity investments.

Real Estate Construction, Development, Zoning & Land Use

Jones Walker provides construction, leasing, insurance, and zoning and land use regulation advices for the development and expansion of gaming facilities. Given the strict scrutiny of gaming projects, our attorneys provide counsel regarding approval, amendment, and waiver procedures for conditional use provisos.

Government Relations

Jones Walker attorneys regularly appear before legislative committees on behalf of gaming clients and work closely with the legislative and executive-branch staffs on both the state and federal levels.

Tax & Employee Benefits

Our attorneys advise gaming companies on the tax implications of the formation, registration and operation of partnerships, registered limited liability partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations and counsel clients on the design, preparation, and administration of employee benefit plans. Jones Walker represents clients in administrative proceedings and in litigation regarding state and local tax matters, including those relating to income, franchise, sales, use, ad valorem, occupational license, and severance taxes.

Labor and Employment

Jones Walker counsels employers on labor and employment law issues, including personnel policies and procedures; employee misconduct; harassment, wage, and hour questions; family and medical leave; drug and alcohol testing; employee discipline; affirmative action; union elections; collective bargaining; and labor arbitration. We also defend employers against employment claims and litigation, including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, and wrongful discharge, and we handle a wide variety of administrative matters before federal and state agencies such as the EEOC, the NLRB, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, OSHA, and the U.S. and various state Departments of Labor. We offer a full package of supervisor training programs.

Environmental

Jones Walker provides advice for the environmental aspects of gaming facilities development. This work has included negotiating site investigations and remedial programs for such facilities.

Litigation

In addition to representing gaming clients in administrative proceedings, our attorneys represent such clients in matters ranging from complex real estate disputes to Jones Act and other personal injury and workmen’s compensation claims arising out of gaming operations. In addition, Jones Walker attorneys have extensive experience in representing gaming operators and manufacturers and distributors in claims by patrons for alleged winnings on gaming devices.

White Collar Crime

Attorneys in our White Collar Crime practice, including former Assistant United States Attorneys, provide comprehensive legal services to individuals and corporations in preventing, avoiding, and defending against criminal allegations and defending simultaneous criminal, civil, and administrative investigations in state and federal courts.

Noteworthy

J. Kelly Duncan is President of the International Masters of Gaming Law. He previously served as Vice President and is a Past Treasurer.  He is listed among the world's top gaming attorneys in the Chambers Global Guide in the area of Gaming & Gambling.

Thomas (Tommy) B. Shepherd III currently serves as Vice President of the International Association of Gaming Advisors. He has served on its Board of Trustees since 2001, and has held various other leadership positions in the organization.

Marc W. Dunbar recently joined as partner in our Gaming practice. Marc is also a member of IMGL and heads the firm’s Tallahassee office.

The firm has launched the Gulf States Gaming Law website at http://gulfstatesgaminglaw.com/, to cover the laws, regulations, gaming sites and other gaming matters across the Gulf South states. The firm sponsored blog discussing current issues in Mississippi Gaming Law can also be accessed on this site.

News

• Jones Walker Attorneys Named to Alabama Super Lawyers 2013
• Jones Walker Attorneys Named Mid-South Super Lawyers
• Jones Walker Expands Gaming Practice and Opens a Tallahassee Office with Addition of Marc Dunbar
• Jones Walker Announces New Board of Directors Members and Partners

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Events

• "Horse Racing at a Crossroads"
• "Internet Cafes: Where Do We Go From Here?"
• "Gaming Law"
• "State-by-State Analysis of Internet Cafes"

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Publications

• "The History of Internet Cafes and the Current Approach to Their Regulation"
• "Florida: A Market Preparing for the Future"
  Casino Enterprise Management, April 2013
• "BLACK FRIDAY: The poker world a year later"
  Ante Up Magazine, March 2013
• "It's time to bet big in the polls"
  Ante Up Magazine, October 2012

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