Tuesday, June 28, 2016

How to Get Employees to Give Two Weeks’ Notice When Quitting

As a general rule, giving two weeks notice is a courtesy extended by an employee to the employer. It is not a legal requirement, particularly when it is at-will employment. So how do you get your employees to provide such advance notice when they resign? After all, an employee who leaves abruptly generally puts your […]

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Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Buy an Internet Business but Avoid Microsoft’s LinkedIn Mistake

As an Internet Lawyer who represents clients buying and selling ecommerce companies, I know there are deals to be had, particularly when acquiring niche sites that are privately owned. However, large publicly traded companies like Microsoft (MSFT) can rarely take advantage of these types of profitable acquisitions because the dollar amounts involved aren’t enough to […]

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Thursday, June 9, 2016

Social Media Policy: Don’t Commit Business Suicide

There’s a Utah company that may have killed its business by creating a ridiculous social media policy. The company gave all of its customers a contract addendum that required the customers to set up Facebook accounts and “like” the business’ FB page. In addition, the new policy authorized the company to use the customers’ photos […]

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Tuesday, April 12, 2016

B2B Contracts: How To Avoid 4 Common Mistakes

Before you sign B2B contracts, it’s important to review the draft agreements to make sure you’re not committing some costly errors. According to Texas Business Lawyer Mike Young, here are four of the most common mistakes that entrepreneurs make in business-to-business deals. Mistake 1 – Failing To Identify Who Owns What Whether it’s patents, trademarks, […]

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Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Free Business Website Guide

As an Internet lawyer and entrepreneur who co-owns several ecommerce companies, I’ve created a complimentary guide called “How to Set Up a Business Website in 15 Steps or Less.” Even if you already have a business website, you should read this guide because it has recommendations you can use to improve your site. Note that […]

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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Breach of Contract: Is Jay Z Getting a Bad Rap?

As a Dallas business lawyer, I find valuable lessons in breach of contract lawsuits involving sports and entertainment stars. Today’s example is Rapper Jay Z’s dispute with a Long Island perfume vendor that’s ended up in a New York state court lawsuit. According to news reports, Jay Z (a.k.a. Shawn Carter) may have violated a […]

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Wednesday, January 20, 2016

DraftKings Online Gambling Illegal in Texas?



In an opinion issued yesterday (PDF file), Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made it clear that he believes online sports gambling sites like DraftKings.com and FanDuel.com are illegal under state law. 

“Under Section 47.02 of the [Texas] Penal Code, a person commits an offense if he or she makes a bet on the partial or final result of a game or contest or on the performance of a participant in a game or contest. Because the outcome of games in daily fantasy sports leagues depends partially on chance, an individual's payment of a fee to participate in such activities is a bet. Accordingly, a court would likely determine that participation in daily fantasy sports leagues is illegal gambling 'under Section 47.02 of the Penal Code.”

Limited Exception for Fantasy Sports Leagues

However, Paxton acknowledges an exception that permits fantasy sports leagues where the players split the pot but there is no “house” to take a cut of the action.


“Though participating in a traditional fantasy sports league is also illegal gambling under Section 47.02, participants in such leagues may avail themselves of a statutory defense to prosecution under Section 47.02(b) of the Penal Code when play is in a private place, no person receives any economic benefit other than personal winnings, and the risks of winning or losing are the same for all participants.”

As a Texas Internet Lawyer based in Dallas, I get asked by business clients about running Internet contests, online lotteries, and gambling online (including paid fantasy sports sites).

Attorney General Paxton’s opinion provides some clarity in Texas for online sports betting. Sara Castellanos points out in the Boston Business Journal that Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, and Nevada are all dealing with this issue too. See “Another setback for DraftKings — this time inTexas” (Jan. 20, 2016).

Clearly, this is an evolving niche with ecommerce. I expect Congress will weigh in at some point to provide uniformity via new federal Internet gambling legislation rather than have conflicting views based on the laws in each state.