NASCAR lawyer gets BIG win over Jordan team attorney in $500 MILLION lawsuit

NASCAR's lead counsel in the 23XI Racing antitrust lawsuit has got a big win over the attorney representing Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin's team in a separate antitrust case.

With the NASCAR and 23XI Racing antitrust lawsuit rumbling on in the background, the legal representatives in that case have done battle in another, with NASCAR's lead man coming out on top.

Back in October, 23XI Racing — co-owned by Michael Jordan and Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin — announced that they were filing an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, along with Front Row Motorsports.

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This came just weeks after both 23XI and Front Row refused to sign up to NASCAR's new charter agreement by the series' self-imposed deadline.

At the heart of the lawsuit, 23XI and Front Row allege that the stock car racing circuit and its leadership have used anti-competitive practices to prevent fair competition in the sport.

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MLS and USSF win lawsuit battle against NASL

Since then there have been several updates to the case, with NASCAR being represented by Chris Yates as lead counsel and 23XI/FRM by Jeffrey Kessler.

Interestingly enough, however, the two lawyers have just faced each other in another antitrust lawsuit, and it was NASCAR's lawyer Yates who came out on top.

This week, Major League Soccer (MLS) and the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) came out on top after being sued by the North American Soccer League (NASL) after it denied them status as a second division league in the US soccer structure.

Reportedly, the NASL demanded $500 million in damages when they filed their lawsuit, with US soccer charged with four counts of alleged conspiratorial and monopolistic illegal acts. However, a jury has decided that MLS and the USSF did not breach antitrust laws when it denied them the second-tier status they were demanding.

Yates represented the USSF in the case and told the media after the judgment: “There is no conspiracy here. U.S. Soccer wants good relationships with all its members.”

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Meanwhile, Kessler — 23XI and Front Row's representative — represented the NASL in the case, although it seems as though it is far from over according to his comments after the judgment.

"We have great respect for the jury process, but there were some fundamental legal errors made which prevented the jurors from receiving important evidence or being instructed on the correct legal standards and claims," Kessler said in a statement to ESPN

"Our client accordingly expects to appeal."

It must be said that the judgment in this case has absolutely no bearing on the current lawsuit ongoing between NASCAR and 23XI/Front Row.

However, it is interesting that the two lawyers came head to head in a separate lawsuit, and seeing which way it swang.

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