Page 5 - NYLS Magazine • 2014 • Vol. 33, No. 2

From left to right: Duke Castiglione, Marc Lasry ’84, Vincent Viola ’83, and Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf ’74.
Amid the popcorn machines, pretzels, and hot dogs, it might have been easy to mistake NewYork Law School for a sports stadium on the night
of October 1.To add to the atmosphere, among the crowd of nearly 300 students, alumni, faculty, and other members of the NYLS community, stood three of the Law School’s most notable alumni, all from the world of sports: Marc Lasry ’84, part-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team; Vincent Viola ’83, owner of the Florida Panthers Hockey Club; and Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf ’74, owner of the Minnesota Vikings Football Club.
It was a special night at the Law School. The main event was a lively and candid panel discussion in the Events Center with the three team owners, moderated by Sports Anchor Duke Castiglione of Fox 5 New York.
Professional sports as a whole today is
a 30 billion-dollar-a-year industry, and team owners number among some of the richest people in the country. In fact, just days before the panel discussion took place, both Marc Lasry and Vincent Viola appeared on the Forbes 400, the magazine’s list of the 400 richest people in the United States. Because sports
are so popular, and consumer demand
is so high, owners often receive as
much attention as players and games.
Their decisions are widely analyzed on broadcast and print media and by fans on social media.
The three NYLS alumni team owners took time out to come back to the Law School for the event during a busy period for their sports: when the professional football season was well under way, and when the hockey and basketball seasons were just about to begin. They began by discussing the career paths that took them from NYLS to professional sports.
“I went to law school because my mother made me,” said Mr. Lasry with a smile to a chorus of laughter from the audience. “But really, whether you use your law degree or don’t use it, it’s great to be a
lawyer and it’s been really helpful in the sports world.”
Born in Morocco and raised in Connecticut, Mr. Lasry refused to give up dreaming about basketball despite his parents’ encouragement to pursue
a more serious career in law. Still, he was regarded as a fierce competitor in both basketball and tennis while in high school.
During his time at NYLS, Mr. Lasry clerked with the Honorable Edward Ryan, the Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the Southern District of New York, and he started his career as a bankruptcy attorney with Angel & Frankel. A year later, he got his start in finance and investment. After
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