Evolution Libel Case: Law Firm Asks for Stay in Naming Alleged Defamer

Posted on: March 5, 2025, 02:49h. 

Last updated on: March 5, 2025, 02:49h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • Evolution suing law firm C&K over allegedly libelous report that caused stock to dive
  • Report was produced by an unnamed C&K client, thought to be an Evolution competitor
  • C&K ask for stay in judge’s order to name mystery client

A Newark, N.J law firm sued for libel by Swedish online gaming software provider Evolution AB has asked a judge to delay an order to reveal the identity of the mysterious client at the center of the case.

Evolution AB, Ralph Marra, Calcagni & Kanefsky
Ralph J. Marra, above, former acting US Attorney for the District of New Jersey, handed the report to the state gambling regulator in the form of a complaint in November 2021. Marra is named in the Evolution suit. (Image: Calcagni & Kanefsky)

Calcagni & Kanefsky’s (C&K) unnamed client produced a report that alleged Evolution was providing its games to operators that did business in unregulated markets, including “banned terror states like Iran, Syria, and Sudan.”

In November 2021, the report was handed to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) by C&K’s general counsel Ralph J. Marra, former acting US Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

When its contents became known to shareholders, Evolution’s stock plummeted, wiping $3 billion off its market cap.

Level Playing Field

The unknown entity is a US-based gambling company that wanted to “level the playing field” in the US markets, according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to Casino.org in November 2021.

The entity, which was not named to Casino.org, believed — erroneously, as it turned out — that Evolution had gained an unfair advantage by partnering with rogue operators, according to the source.

The same source later denied this to a different Casino.org reporter several weeks later.

Evolution sued C&K and the unnamed entity in December 2021 in the New Jersey Superior Court. Last year, both the DGE and gaming regulators in Pennsylvania ultimately concluded there was no evidence that the allegations in the report were true.

Until last week, the name of C&K’s client was protected by attorney-client privilege, as the court sought to balance the law firm’s obligation toward its client with Evolution’s right to get the information needed to pursue civil remedy.

‘Irreparable Harm’

On Friday, Judge John C. Porto wrote he was confident that the report “lacks veracity,” adding that Evolution was “entitled to all relevant discovery necessary.”

“The identity of the client is clearly necessary to enable the plaintiff to fully address its legal claims,” the judge concluded.

Porto gave C&K until Friday, March 7 to disclose the names of the investigative firm that compiled the report and the entity that commissioned it.

But in an emergency motion to stay that order pending a future appeal against it, C&K argued that it “will suffer substantial, immediate and irreparable harm” without a stay, because “it will be forced to disclose confidential client information, a disclosure that cannot be undone.”

It also argued that disclosure of the identities would moot C&K’s planned appeal of the order, thus shielding it from appellate review. Meanwhile, a stay of the order would serve the public interest by protecting attorney-client privilege, C&K argued.

Evolution is scheduled to file a brief opposing the motion today, March 5, while oral arguments will be heard on Thursday.