Congratulations to our clients, Russell DeMariano and Puckdrop LLC, on the successful defeat of the motion for a preliminary injunction filed by their former league, the Eastern Hockey League to prevent their team from playing in another league due to an overreaching noncompete clause.

Congratulations to our clients, Russell DeMariano and Puckdrop LLC, on the successful defeat of a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by their former league, the Eastern Hockey League (EHL). After the EHL had improperly suspended our clients’ junior hockey team early in the 2024-2025 season, our client joined the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC) of the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL). The EHL then sued and moved for a preliminary injunction to prevent our clients from playing in the USPHL, contending that it is a competing league, and our clients were restricted from playing in a competing league by virtue of a noncompete clause in their membership agreement with the EHL. Cole Schotz successfully defeated the motion for a preliminary injunction by demonstrating that the NCDC was not a competing league but rather a more competitive, higher-tier league than the EHL. The Cole Schotz team was led by Stu Komrower, Rachel Mongiello, and Mia Guttmann.