Sep 28, 2015 · In an email sent to attorney Michael Corso on March 25, 2010, Robert Stolzman, an attorney for Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C., suggested the video game company should consider moving to 498 Kinsley ...
Aug 09, 2015 · 38 Studios Settlement Reached for $12.5 Million with Adler Pollock, Stokes, and Saul. The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation announced on Friday that it has reached a $12.5 million settlement with ...
Feb 02, 2017 · EDC legal advisor Rob Stolzman and Adler, Pollock, and Sheehan were defendants in the state's 38 Studios lawsuit. Stolzman was recently selected to the 2016 edition of "Best Lawyers in America."
The now-Rhode Island Attorney General voted for the $75 million "job guarantee program" -- which as is now known turned out to be earmarked for 38 Studios -- while a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives in 2010, where he had served since 1990.
Michael Corso over the past two decades has been able to use his relationships and political connections to make millions in fees from historic tax credits, payments on the 38 Studios deal, and movie tax credits -- all taxpayer sponsored programs. His success in part was fueled by his close relationship with Gordon Fox, the former Speaker of the House and now an inmate in federal prison. While Corso made millions on historic tax credits and was paid hundreds of thousands by 38 Studios for activities related to securing the $75 million in loan guarantees, Corso had tapped the Rhode Island state coffers for millions more in movie tax credits.
After legal fees -- a total of $11.34 million to state attorney Max Wistow -- Rhode Island will recover $49.66 million in settlements in the 38 Studios litigation, after the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation announced that they settled with the last remaining defendant, First Southwest.
The former Rhode Island Governor was at the helm of both the state and the EDC at the time the 38 Studios deal was ushered through, and has kept a relatively low profile since leaving office in 2011 -- and even lower when 38 Studios collapsed the following year.
Kempe was spokesperson for then-Governor Donald Carcieri when the 38 Studios deal was ushered through in 2010. In the recently released lawsuit documents, Kempe was discovered to have sent an email to EDC staff urging them to publicly support the deal, closing with "In Schilling We Trust!"
The former Speaker of the House before Gordon Fox was one of the central key players in the 38 Studios saga -- who Rhode Island came to find out was first introduced to 38 Studios board member Thomas Zaccagnino at a meeting with Michael Corso and Gordon Fox in the fall of 2009 -- and hasn't slowed down since the demise of the ill-fated deal.
In 2010, state leaders decided to have taxpayers guarantee a $75 million loan to lure former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling’s video-game company, 38 Studios, from Massachusetts to Providence. Within two years, the company was bankrupt, everyone was pointing fingers – and taxpayers owed almost $90 million in principal and interest payments to ...
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The announcement Wednesday that the state of Rhode Island’s former financial adviser has agreed to a $16-million settlement over 38 Studios likely brings to an end years of litigation over the failed deal.
Officials said 146 people were interviewed as part of the criminal investigation, and 34 were called to testify before the grand jury. On top of that, there are two other unresolved cases involving 38 Studios. First there is the civil fraud lawsuit filed last year by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.
The final payment is due in 2020, so between now and then they will need to appropriate another $12.5 million. That will be the last payment. (Of course, this doesn’t count any indirect ...
So where did this lawsuit come from? Shortly after 38 Studios collapsed, then-Gov. Lincoln Chafee hired Max Wistow – a prominent local attorney who worked on the Station nightclub fire case – to see whether there was enough evidence of bad behavior by those involved in the deal to sue for damages. Wistow sued 14 of the deal’s architects in November ...
J. Michael Saul, who was the EDC’s deputy director. Antonio Afonso Jr., a lawyer for the state as the deal was being put together. Robert Stolzman, another lawyer for the state. Wells Fargo Securities, a bank that sold the bonds and also worked for 38 Studios.
Richard Wester, 38 Studios’ chief financial officer. Jennifer MacLean, 38 Studios’ CEO. Keith Stokes, who was the R.I. Economic Development Corporation (EDC) executive director when the deal was struck. J. Michael Saul, who was the EDC’s deputy director. Antonio Afonso Jr., a lawyer for the state as the deal was being put together.
While House and Senate leadership have remained quiet regarding the Schilling’s company in recent weeks, concern over which connected individuals or companies benefited from the 38 Studios deal has only increased.
Schilling’s loan guarantee was only possible thanks to last-minute legislation that allowed the EDC to expand its Job Creation Guaranty Program from $50 million to $125 million, the exact amount that ended up being awarded to 38 Studios.
This week, Schilling, whose company was unable to make payroll in the days before it opted to lay off every employee, blamed Governor Chafee for scaring off potential investors with comments he made about company.
Big Huge Games. Mercury Project. Precision Jobs. 38 Studios, LLC, formerly Green Monster Games, LLC, was an American entertainment and IP development company founded in 2006 by Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling and named for his jersey number. Originally based in Massachusetts, the company moved to Rhode Island as part ...
He was interested in building a new massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), a type of game that Schilling frequently played and enjoyed. In 2006, Schilling announced his plans to six of his gaming friends while chatting online, asking them, "I'm seriously contemplating starting a gaming company.
In a separate administrative proceeding, the SEC settled with First Southwest Company for $192,400. The lawsuit with Wells Fargo continued until January 2019, when lawyers for both the SEC and the bank had announced a settlement agreement with undisclosed terms, pending approval by the court.
The studio released the mobile strategy game DomiNations in 2015 and was acquired by Nexon the following year. THQ Nordic announced in September 2018 that it had acquired the intellectual property assets from 38 Studios, including Kingdoms of Amalur and Project Copernicus.
WPRI reported that both CEO Jennifer MacLean and Senior Vice President of Product Development John Blakely had indicated that they had left the company; MacLean dated her departure to March 2012, when she took a leave of absence.
In 2006, the company leased 30,000 square feet (2,800 m 2) of office space in downtown Maynard, Massachusetts at the historic old mill building then called Clock Tower Place. A press release formally announced the creation of Green Monster Games (GMG) in September 2006.
On May 14, 2012, the Providence Journal reported that Rhode Island Governor Chaffee had met with 38 Studios regarding their financial situation, and hinted at trouble: