Network of law firms launches new gaming practice

Jan 13, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck, World  

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MLGTS Legal Circle, a network of law firms with a presence in Portuguese-speaking countries and regions, has launched a new gaming law practice. The network will also launch a new international guide on gaming law.

Portugal-based law firm Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva e Associados (MLGTS) created the network. Macau-based MdME Lawyers is one of the firms in the MLGTS Legal Circle.

MdME said in a press release that the new gaming law practice “is the result of the extensive experience that MdME has acquired throughout the years by providing assistance in complex international operations in the gaming market”.

MdME added it has been advising a wide range of clients in the gaming sector, including casino operators, sports betting companies, gaming promoters, and gaming manufacturers.

While gaming legal practice in the United States takes its starting point from the common law system inherited from Britain, gaming legal practice in Macau stems from the civil code legal system inherited from the days of Portuguese administration.

Gaming has been expanding recently in civil code-system jurisdictions. Recent examples are Japan, which passed an enabling bill for casino resorts on December 14, and Cape Verde, where in 2015 Macau Legend Development Ltd, led by Macau businessman David Chow Kam Fai, was granted a casino licence. The firm announced in February last year that it had started construction of a casino resort there.

“Macau is today’s world leader in the casino gaming sector, having experienced an unprecedented growth in the last decade. The assistance provided by MdME to its clients in this area has allowed us to keep up with this development and gather not only international level experience but also an in-depth knowledge of the market,” said in a statement Rui Pinto Proença, a partner and head of corporate and gaming practice at MdME.

Following the launch of the new practice area in gaming law, the law firms announced that they would be publishing a multi-jurisdictional gaming law guide.

The “Global Legal Gaming Guide” will cover 25 plus jurisdictions around the world and will be launched in May, coinciding with the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia, a casino industry trade exhibition and conference held annually in Macau.

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