The group that owns the Atlanta Hawks and recently sold the Atlanta Thrashers has settled a $195 million legal malpractice lawsuit against the law firm King & Spalding.
Tweet ShareThis The Atlanta Spirit, which sold the Thrashers to a Canadian group in June and has an agreement to sell a majority stake in the Atlanta Hawks, settled the complaint last week, said attorneys involved in the dispute. The terms of the deal are confidential and attorneys for both sides said they are pleased the dispute was amicably resolved.
The ownership group had claimed that the law firm cost it about $195 million with a "fatally flawed contract" that prevented it from selling off the city's NHL franchise team earlier.
The lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court claimed that the owners have been negotiating to sell the Thrashers for six years, but were thwarted by a contentious split with Boston-based co-owner Steve Belkin. That dispute was finally settled in December when his shares were bought out.
Atlanta Spirit, though, contends that the fight with Belkin would have ended in August 2005 if King & Spalding hadn't negotiated a botched contract and doled out advice that was "poorly considered, self-interested, and, in many cases, blatantly wrong."
Belkin split with the group in 2005, after he objected to the Hawks' trade of Boris Diaw, two first-round draft picks and a $4.9 million trade exception to the Phoenix Suns for guard Joe Johnson, who had agreed to a $70 million contract. |
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