HARRISBURG, PA, May 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pace-O-Matic, creator of Pennsylvania Skill games, said it received another positive court ruling in its conflict-of-interest case against Eckert Seamans on May 10 when a federal judge ordered the law firm to release additional documents.
Pace-O-Matic (POM) already received hundreds of emails and documents from Eckert after the law firm lost a previous bid to shield the information. U.S. District Judge for the Middle District Jennifer P. Wilson, who ruled on the case last week, said Eckert has 21 days to hand over the documents to POM.
Judge Wilson reviewed the emails and provided a detailed and extensive analysis. She determined that a number of documents that that law firm has claimed to be privileged are not.
Mike Barley, chief public affairs officer for POM, said the ruling is an important step toward winning its case against Eckert.
"This is yet another positive ruling for Pace-O-Matic to uncover the extent to which our former law firm, Eckert Seamans, harmed our business and damaged our reputation because they were doing the bidding of big casinos," Barley said.
POM sued Eckert Seamans in February 2020 for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. The skill game company says it accused the law firm of a conflict of interest after discovering it was representing POM in Virginia where it was working to regulate skill games and at the same time Parx Casino in Pennsylvania. Parx is fighting against POM’s skill game operation in the state.
POM asked Eckert to drop Parx Casino as its client when it discovered the conflict of interest but instead, the law firm said it would stop representing POM.
POM has pushed in court to view documents shared between its former lawyers and others working against it in Pennsylvania. From the trove of documents POM already has received from Eckert, Barley says, it is clear there were backroom schemes involving Eckert to hurt POM, and by association, small businesses, veterans organizations and fraternal organizations that depend on skill games revenue.
