Skillz, a newly public esports and mobile gaming company, announced it has hired Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe law firm partner Nicholas Green to be Head of Public Policy. He took over the position January 24, as reported by Bloomberg.
Green has nearly a decade of experience at Orrick, where the sports law and betting expert was part of a team working to legalize sports betting in various U.S. states.
Green became a partner at Orrick in early 2020. Later that year, Winston & Strawn advised San Francisco-based Skillz when it went public by merging with blank check firm Flying Eagle Acquisition Corp. Orrick took the lead for Skillz last year on its $50 million investment and partnership with Germany’s Exit Games GmbH.
Skillz was founded in 2012 and owns online games such as “Jewel Blitz” and “Solitaire cube”; and hosts casual esports tournaments for mobile gamers using its platform.
Before going public in 2020, the company received backing from the National Football League’s venture capital arm, 32 Equity, and owners of pro sports teams such as the Milwaukee Bucks, New England Patriots and Sacramento Kings. The NFL and Skillz signed a multiyear gaming agreement last year that could lead to the development of a pro football-themed mobile game.
Skillz has been broadening its corporate staff by recruiting lawyers as well. The company welcomed aboard former IBM lawyer Natalie Wilmore last year as head of corporate and securities, while also adding associate counsel Dalar Abolian this month from Los Angeles firm Yo Mohandesi. Andrew Bateman, a former lawyer at Machine Zone Inc, a mobile gaming software company acquired in 2020 by AppLovin Corp., also joined Skillz a year ago as its Head of Intellectual Property.
The new Head of Public Policy reports to Vice President of Legal, Charlotte Edelman, a former partner at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo hired by the company in 2020.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2022/02/16/61418-nflbacked-gaming-startup-skillz-appoints-orrick-39s-sports-betting-expert-nicholas-green
