Players On the Move

SiriusXM has lured one of the most accomplished legal chiefs in the nation out of retirement-and is paying up royally to land him. Richard Baer — a former chief legal officer of Airbnb, Liberty Media and UnitedHealth Group started in March as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of SiriusXM. Baer's employment agreement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows he receives $5 million in stock awards on his first day of work. With his salary and other compensation added in, Baer will be on track to earn about $8 million in 2025. The Denver-based executive will work remotely for the New York City-based satellite radio company, according to the agreement, which runs three years, with one automatic one-year extension. In addition to salary, SiriusXM agreed to pay Baer a $500,000 signing bonus and pay him an annual bonus with a target equal to 150% of his salary ($1.5 million). The stock awards will come in three batches, with $1.5 million in grants vesting over three years, $2 million in grants vesting over two years and $1.5 million in grants vesting all at once in December 2027 if SiriusXM achieves a performance target tied to the amount of free cash flow it generates and its stock price. Baer succeeds Patrick Donnelly, who retired after serving as SiriusXM general counsel for 27 years. Baer began his legal career as a homicide prosecutor in Brooklyn, NY. He most recently was with Airbnb, where he served as CLO from 2019 until his retirement in December 2023. Before that, from 2012 to 2019, Baer was CLO of Liberty Media, media entrepreneur John Malone’s holding company. During Baer’s tenure, Liberty, which had first invested in Sirius XM in 2009, acquired majority control — a position Liberty maintained until a restructuring gave SiriusXM its full independence last year. Another notable deal during Baer’s Liberty tenure was its $4.4 billion purchase of the Formula One auto-racing series in 2016. Baer joins SiriusXM as it tries to stave off media competition from every direction, from Spotify to iHeartMedia. The company’s subscriptions have steadily declined since peaking at 34.91 million in late 2019. They now stand at 33.2 million. … The Texas Rangers has hired Eunice Nakamura, the chief legal officer of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, as general counsel. A breast cancer survivor, Nakamura led the Dallas-based nonprofit for six years. Before joining Komen, Nakamura was vice president of legal for G6 Hospitality, where she worked for six years. The company franchises 1,500 Motel 6 and Studio 6 Extended Stay hotels in the United States and Canada. Nakamura succeeds Erin Kearney, who’d been general counsel for two years when the team parted ways with her at the start of 2025 and began advertising for a replacement. Kearney’s exit occurred at a time the Rangers had the dubious distinction of being the only one of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams to lack a local TV broadcasting deal for the upcoming season. Diamond Sports Group, an operator of regional sports networks that previously broadcast Rangers games, landed in bankruptcy in 2023 after cable cord-cutting sapped its revenue, leaving it unable to pony up its rights fees. Diamond and the Rangers parted ways after last season. On Jan. 27, the team announced it was launching its own network, the Rangers Sports Network, becoming one of a handful of MLB teams to own or partly own the company holding its local TV rights. The network has reached deals to broadcast Rangers games on Spectrum, U-Verse and DirectTV and is seeking to negotiate pacts with other providers. … Reed Smith partner Sophie Goossens, a dual-qualified lawyer in the U.K. and France, leaves the firm to join Latham & Watkins as a partner in London in the latter’s artificial intelligence, communications and copyright practices, as well as the technology industry group. Her practice brings expertise in copyright and EU regulation, and significant experience with the complex legal and business challenges that arise from the intersection of digital technologies, media law and EU copyright regimes. Goossens specializes in AI, music licensing, video games and the regulation of online media services. … After a 23-year run at AMC Entertainment Holdings, Kevin Connor retires in March, setting the stage for his deputy to audition for his role. Edwin “Eddie” Gladbach, currently vice president of legal and a 16-year veteran of AMC, inherits Connor’s duties as interim general counsel and secretary. “The company will decide on the selection of its long-term general counsel later in the year, with both internal and external candidates being considered,” the Leawood, Kansas-based AMC announced. Before joining AMC in 2009, Gladbach served nearly five years as senior counsel at Interstate Bakeries, and before that worked on legal and regulatory compliance matters at Shook, Hardy & Bacon. Connor, who’d been AMC’s top lawyer since 2007, helped AMC recover after the COVID-19 pandemic caused a plunge in movie theater attendance. The company won wiggle room through a variety of transactions, including buying back debt, buying back stock and converting nearly a half-billion of debt into equity. Connor also played a key role in AMC’s acquisitions over the last decade. In 2016, the company bought Carmike Cinemas for $1.1 billion, and later the Nordic Cinemas Group for $652 million and Odeon/UCI Cinemas for $1.2 billion. Connor also helped guide AMC through its 2006 purchase of Loews Cineplex Entertainment for an undisclosed price and through its 2013 initial public offering. In 2023, the most recent year available, Connor received compensation totaling $2.76 million according to an AMC Securities and Exchange Commission filing. AMC is the largest theater chain in the U.S. and worldwide with about 900 theaters and 10,000 screens. … The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) has hired David Kelly as general counsel, plucking him from the front office of the Golden State Warriors. Kelly had been the Warriors’ legal chief for 13 years, a span when the team won four NBA titles. One of Kelly’s areas of responsibility was overseeing construction of the $1.4 billion Chase Center in San Francisco, Golden State’s home arena, which opened in 2019. During his tenure, Kelly — who was a rapper known as Capital D before getting his law degree from the University of Illinois — also set up Golden State Entertainment, a content arm developing film, music and culture for the Warriors and Golden State Valkyries, a Women’s NBA team that will tip off its first season in May. The National Basketball Players Association is based in New York City and has about 100 employees. Kelly is taking the legal reins of the organization at a time the NBA is riding high, with its global fan base expanding and its TV contracts reaping record sums. Last year, the NBA struck new long-term broadcasting agreements that will pay the league $76 billion over 11 years. Kelly’s new post reunites him with Andre Iguodala, executive director of the NBPA who was on all four of the Warriors teams that won titles during Kelly’s tenure. Kelly succeeds Ron Klepner, who transitions to the specialized role of senior counsel for labor relations. Klepner has been the NBPA’s general counsel for 32 years, a span when he oversaw negotiations on six collective bargaining agreements. Kelly won’t have to deal with a new round of contract negotiations for years as general counsel. The league and union reached their last agreement in June 2023. It runs through the 2029-2030 season. According to an Internal Revenue Service filing, the NBPA reported revenue of $311 million and assets of $370 million in the fiscal year that ended in September 2023, the latest year available. … Veteran sports and entertainment attorney Edwin “Eddie” Edwards Jr. rejoins Dinsmore & Shohl LLP in its corporate group at the firm’s Pittsburgh office. Edwards has represented clients from major sports leagues, such as the NFL, and major entertainment companies. According to the firm’s announcement of Edwards’ return: “With two decades of experience navigating complex contract negotiations, litigation and corporate governance, Eddie now offers clients the benefit of his national reach and deep industry insight, seamlessly advising on the high-stakes, lucrative world of professional sports and entertainment from coast to coast.” The firm’s statement adds: “Eddie thrives in the sports management sector, having operated the Football Division of a prominent athlete representation company based in West Hollywood, CA. … As a certified contract advisor with the NFL Players Association and a registered agent with the National Basketball Players Association, Eddie’s legal acumen extends across multiple sports and entertainment verticals.” Anthony Ditka, managing partner of Dinsmore’s Pittsburgh office, notes: “After his in-house experience at LAMF Sports Management, he returns with a sophisticated transactional practice and a thriving sports and entertainment practice.” … Pierson Ferdinand has added business and entertainment law specialist Merlyne Jean-Louis as a partner in New York. Jean-Louis joins the firm after nearly a decade managing her own boutique business and entertainment law firm, which included contract drafting and negotiations, trademark and copyright protection, business structuring and corporate governance, and focusing on influencer marketing and podcast industries. Previously in her career, Jean-Louis worked at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Davis+Gilbert LLP, and the Federal Trade Commission. Pierson Ferdinand’s announcement also noted: “She is a frequent legal commentator, appearing in leading national print and broadcast outlets to discuss intellectual property law relating to creative professionals. She is also actively involved in the legal community, as a member of the New York State Bar Association (and long-time participant in its Entertainment, Arts & Sport Law Section) and the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association.” … Munger Tolles & Olson has hired Andrew Garelick as a partner in its Los Angeles office. Garelick is expected to lead the expansion of the firm’s corporate practice. He comes from the Skadden law firm. Garelick has advised numerous clients in high-profile, industry-shaping transactions, including on matters involving The Walt Disney Company, Caesar Entertainment Corp. and Beats Electronics, according to the firm. … The law firm Robinson+Cole announced the addition of Robert C. Seiger to its Philadelphia office as a partner in the firm’s immigration group. Seiger counsels employers and professional athletes on a broad spectrum of immigration matters. Seiger represents clients in professional and collegiate sports, including football, baseball, soccer, motor racing and golf, as well as in the entertainment industry. He serves as outside immigration counsel to several National Hockey League franchises, and represents college and university athletic departments in immigration and related compliance issues for their foreign athletes. … O’Melveny & Myers added Benjamin Aronson, former vice president and assistant general counsel at the National Basketball Association, as a partner in the firm’s general litigation practice group and entertainment, sports & media industry group.