Mark Cuban is laying the groundwork for a potential lawsuit over plans for a new Mavericks home arena. His recent legal filing, first reported by Mavs Roundtable, aims to obtain information he says could show that new Mavs majority owner Patrick Dumont unlawfully cut him out of opportunities after he sold his majority stake.
Cuban’s Rule 202 petition, filed in Texas state court, is not a lawsuit. It’s a precursor to a potential lawsuit.
The filing mentions multiple issues, with a focus on the Mavericks’ new arena plans, and seeks to compel the deposition of a “corporate representative” for Arena Development Intermediate (ADI), the Delaware-incorporated entity that Dumont’s ownership group formed to pursue a new arena. The petition also asks for “one narrow set of documents” related to that pursuit.
“If Cuban is considering suing for fraud, then he will have to prove the other side’s intent—that they intentionally misled him,” says David Coale, a partner at Texas-based law firm Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann LLP.
“That’s always tricky to do and even more challenging if you don’t have visibility into what the other side’s thought process really was,” Coale tells Front Office Sports. “This way, you get some of those cards on the table without beginning a full-blown lawsuit.”
