About Karl Rutledge
Karl Rutledge is an attorney in the Gaming practice group in the firm’s Las Vegas office. He focuses on Internet gaming, contests, sweepstakes, privacy policies, and website terms and conditions. Karl has been listed in Best Lawyers in America® in the category of Gaming Law since 2012.
Internet Gaming. Karl helps established and emerging online gaming companies operate legally in the U.S. under state and federal law. His experience includes Internet poker, fantasy sports, skill-based games, and social games.
For Karl, risk analysis and creative business structuring is the name of the game as he helps clients pursue new game offerings. It’s his job to analyze a client’s online gaming business model against existing federal and state gambling statutes, determine their level of risk, and if necessary, make recommendations on how to transform a potentially illegal idea into lawful gaming enterprise.
Karl also serves as an ongoing advocate for his clients and their gaming interests. He often writes reasoned legal opinion letters and participates in conference calls to reassure advertisers, potential investors and payment processors that his clients’ businesses constitute a lawful operation.
Karl regularly interfaces with gaming regulators to advocate for the legalization of Internet poker at the federal and state levels and to expand permitted gaming offerings. He’s currently representing a client who wants to bring skill games into casinos.
Contests, Sweepstakes, Privacy Policies and Website Terms and Conditions. Karl works with companies that run online and/or in-person contests, promotions and sweepstakes to draft the necessary rules associated with those activities. Karl also regularly drafts website privacy policies and terms and conditions of use for companies. Recently, he drafted rules for the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee as well as website privacy policies and contests rules for a leading fantasy sports operator. For websites in general, Karl has drafted hundreds of terms and conditions statements and privacy policies.
Personal. Before becoming a lawyer, Karl worked as a rodeo clown and bullfighter.