The high-profile dispute between the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars has been given a January trial date, which lawyers said reflects the efficiency litigants were told they could expect to see from the newly established Texas Business Court.
Bailey Brauer partner Jared Wilkinson said it’s “amazing” that a jury trial has already been set.
“I just don’t see how this case would have made it to trial in this short amount of time in a district court,” Wilkinson said. “I think that’s probably unique to the Business Court here, that they were able to get that trial date so quickly and have a jury trial.”
Last week, the Dallas Mavericks ownership filed suit against the ownership of the Dallas Stars involving their shared venue space at American Airlines Center.
The Mavericks told the Texas Business Court First Division in Dallas they were filing suit to enforce the terms of partnership contracts the teams signed nearly 25 years ago.
“But the Stars relinquished their rights in that partnership when they breached their contracts with the City of Dallas and uprooted their headquarters to Frisco, Texas. The governing agreements could not be clearer: when one partner breaches its contractual commitment to stay in Dallas, the other is empowered to redeem that partner’s interest,” the lawsuit read.
Hours after the lawsuit was filed, the Stars submitted its counterclaims, calling it “an attempted hostile takeover.” The filing claims “only the city may assert a breach of the Stars franchise agreement.”
AZA partner John Zavitsanos said the dispute is “almost like some power couple going through a divorce.”
“It looks like it’s kind of a power grab on the part of both sides about who’s going to have more control over the arena and over what happens with the arena,” Zavitsanos said.
Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann partner Chris Patton, who has practiced in the Business Court, said the Texas Business Court has the resources to give a case like this more immediate attention than it would receive in state district court.
“I genuinely believe this kind of dispute is what the Business Court [was] designed for,” Patton said. “This is really a high-stakes contractual matter with very detailed contractual provisions, very technical contracts between multiple parties, and on multiple levels. The business court’s main purpose was to be able to address these types of high-stakes cases in a really thoughtful and business-minded way.”
While the jury trial has been scheduled for Jan. 26, 2026, where it will take place is currently unknown, since the new court does not have a permanent courtroom. The case is assigned to Judge Bill Whitehill, who has previously held hearings at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.
The jury pool will be the same as the state district court in Dallas.
Attorneys for the Mavericks are Jackson Walker partners Charles Babcock and Chris Bankler and associate Sarah Starr.
Attorneys for the Stars are Joshua Sandler, Cory Johnson, John Janicek, and Andrew Patterson of Winstead.
The case is Dallas Sports Group LLC, Radical Arena Ltd. vs. DSE Hockey Club L.P., 25-BC01B-0049.