In an NHLPA press release on July 29, 2016 the Player’s Union announced that longtime complex commercial litigation attorney Bruce S. Meyer is their new senior director of collective bargaining. The move will take place in mid-August and he is expected to get to work on the policy and legal aspects of the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations.
Meyer, an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania and Boston University School of Law is considered an expert in International Sports Law and Business. As a partner at Weil Gotshal & Manges, Meyer worked primarily in complex commercial litigation including the areas of intellectual property and the media. Additionally, he has represented other athletes unions like the NFLPA and the NBAPA during his time at the New York based law firm, appreciating the opportunity to protect the rights of professional athletes. Most recently, he helped reduce Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman’s 20-game suspension for striking an official. Currently, the NHL is challenging the arbitrator’s ruling.
Meyer’s hiring comes at a curious time as the NHL is facing a number of complex litigations including the challenge of the Wideman suspension and the large multi-district litigation involving concussions. Meyer will no doubt be working to have such issues a major point of discussion in the next CBA.