Biography
Zach has parlayed his sports-specific background as a former player-agent to his litigation practice, where he assists in representing a wide range of corporate and individual clients. He focuses on sports and entertainment law, including in the intellectual property, labor, antitrust, and commercial contexts, as well as corporate investigations. Zach has experience in all stages of litigation, including trials, taking and defending depositions, and managing discovery.
His notable representative experience includes serving on Weil teams representing:
Sports Law
- 2019 NBA #1 draft pick Zion Williamson and Creative Artists Agency (“CAA”) in connection with two multi-hundred million dollar litigations in North Carolina federal court and Florida state court arising out of a marketing agreement with Williamson’s former agent, which involve breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets claims.
- A consortium of minor league baseball teams in a federal lawsuit in the S.D.N.Y. against Major League Baseball challenging MLB’s “baseball exemption” to the United States antitrust laws, as well as in related state court actions.
- A leading television broadcaster in various sports-related litigation matters, including pertaining to the NFL Sunday Ticket and NCAA “Grant-In-Aid” litigations, the Alliance of American Football bankruptcy, the cancellation of high-profile sports programming during the COVID-19 pandemic, and sports-betting issues and other high-profile developments in the law and business.
- A leading online event ticket reseller in a $100 million arbitration with a top professional sports league.
Intellectual Property/Media Law
- Alibaba Group in a putative class action regarding intellectual property infringement claims stemming from products sold on its e-commerce platforms.
- Covetrus, a global animal-health technology and services company, in two state court lawsuits brought against it by online animal retailer Chewy regarding the sale of regulated pet prescription products, as well as alleged defamation and libel claims regarding statements Covetrus made about Chewy.
- The Association of American Publishers in connection with antitrust, licensing, copyright, and other intellectual property issues.
Corporate Sports Advisory
- A private equity firm in its analysis and potential acquisition of a streaming service with respect to various name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) and right of publicity concerns related to high school athletes and minors.
- A private equity firm in its potential acquisition of a satellite television distributor, including an analysis of the distributor’s sports broadcast rights.
- A publicly-traded global hospitality and entertainment company regarding the cancellation of various live performances at its properties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other Trial and Investigations Experience
- The National Women’s Soccer League Players’ Association in a landmark investigation into alleged abuse, harassment, and misconduct in women’s soccer, which aims to identify and address systemic failures in order to better protect player health and safety.
- The special committee of a multi-billion dollar real estate company in an internal investigation into the liability of the officers and directors in connection with its chapter 11 restructuring.
- The special committee of Exide Holdings in an internal investigation into pre-bankruptcy financial transactions related to its Chapter 11 filing.
- CBL Properties in a bench trial against certain secured lenders in connection with their restructuring of more than $4 billion of obligations.
Zach also has an active pro bono practice. He has advised student authors and student-run newspapers who faced First Amendment and censorship issues over their works by their institutions. Zach also represents clients that suffer from physical disabilities in seeking reasonable accommodations from their landlords to provide his clients with greater accessibility to their homes. He has also represents immigrant victims of domestic abuse seeking to lift restrictions on United States residency after the victims had successfully left their abusive spouses.
Zach is a member of the New York City Bar’s Sports Law Committee. He also serves on the boards of the Semester at Sea Alumni Association and the Fordham Law Alumni Association.
Zach received his B.A. from Tulane University and his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Fordham Sports Law Forum and a Notes and Articles Editor for the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal. He is the author of multiple law journal articles, including “The Time Is Now: Why the United States Should Adopt the British Model of Sports Betting Legislation,” Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, Vol. 27, No. 2017 (2017), “The Right to Play: How Sports Leagues Worldwide Interfere with the Fundamental Right to Work,” 25 Sports Law. J. 19 (2018), and “Leveling the Playing Field for Sports Agents: How the Two-Hat Theory and the Model Rules of Professional Conduct Collide,” 19 Texas Rev. Ent. & Sports L. 13 (2018).
Prior to joining Weil, Zach worked as a sports agent, representing professional basketball players around the world. He also previously worked in front-office roles of two NBA teams. In 2023, Zach was recognized in the inaugural Conduct Detrimental: The Intersection of Sports and Law “10 Under 10” list, which highlights sports lawyers and agents who are shaping the sports legal field.