Karl Rutledge is Chair of our Commercial Gaming group and a partner in the in the firm’s Las Vegas office. He focuses on promotional marketing and land-based and Internet gaming, with a particular emphasis on eSports, skill-based contests, sweepstakes, official rules, sports betting, privacy policies, and website terms and conditions.
Risk analysis and creative business structuring are keys to pursuing new offerings. Karl helps established and emerging companies operate legally in the U.S. under state and federal gaming and sweepstakes laws.
Karl also serves as an ongoing advocate for his clients and their gaming interests. He often interfaces with gaming regulators, advertisers, and payment processors to present his clients’ positions as to why they constitute a lawful operation.
Practice Areas
Karl’s wide variety of gaming/promotional expertise includes:
- eSports
- Sports Betting
- Skill-Based Contests
- Sweepstakes
- Bonding and Registration of Sweepstakes
- Social Gaming
- Risk Assessment
- Official Rules
- Compliance Plans
- Privacy Policies
- Loyalty/Rewards Programs
- End-User License Agreements (EULA)
- Terms and Conditions of Use
- Drafting Federal and State Gaming Legislation
- Various other issues relating to gaming, promotional marketing and brand development
Leadership
Karl is the current chair of the Gaming Law Committee of the American Bar Association Business Law Section.
Karl is an adjunct professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, where he teaches “Gaming Industry Regulation.”
He has been featured in Global Gaming Business Magazine as an emerging leader in the gaming industry, recognized in Best Lawyers in America and holds AV Preeminent Attorney rating by Martindale-Hubbell.
He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Gaming Law Section of the Nevada State Bar.
Community Service
Karl recently co-authored a chapter for the Nevada Gaming Law Practice and Procedure Manual published by the State Bar of Nevada, a first of its kind reference/research tool for gaming and non-gaming practitioners.
Personal
Before becoming a lawyer, Karl worked as a rodeo clown and bullfighter and now raises bucking bulls and commercial cattle with his family.
Memberships & Affiliations
- Clark County Bar Association, Member
- Young Gaming Attorney in Nevada of the International Masters of Gaming Law IMGL, Affiliated Member
- American Bar Associations Business Law Section, Member
- American Bar Associations Gaming Law Committee, Director
- Nevada State Bar, Gaming Law Section, Executive Committee Member
