Nets Swoop In After Knicks Ban Lawyers Suing MSG Over James Dolan Policy

A Ban That Backfired

Here's a petty-but-brilliant move you don't see every day: Madison Square Garden banned a law firm from its venues because the firm is suing MSG. The Brooklyn Nets responded by rolling out the red carpet for that exact same firm.

The lawyers in question — Mark David Shirian and Shawn Daniel Shirian of Mark David Shirian P.C. — represent client Nino Ufie in a personal-injury lawsuit against MSG Arena, MSG Entertainment Corp., and MSG Entertainment Holdings. The case was filed in New York Supreme Court in August 2026 and is still active. On September 28, MSG formally told the firm its attorneys were barred from entering Madison Square Garden and other MSG-owned venues until the litigation wraps up.

Enter Barclays Center

Days after that ban letter went out, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment's premium hospitality team reached out to Mark Shirian personally, inviting him and his team to the October 8 Nets-76ers game. The email referenced a social media post from Shawn Shirian, saying the team was "struck by the way you spoke about standing behind the clients who trust you with their cases," and offered to host the group at Barclays Center.

It's a savvy bit of cross-town trolling — and genuinely good business. Nothing builds goodwill with New York's legal community quite like publicly welcoming people your rival just locked out.

The Policy Behind the Drama

This isn't a one-off. MSG has defended this ban-the-litigants'-lawyers policy since at least 2022. A January 2023 MSG statement spelled it out plainly: "Attorneys who have filed a lawsuit against MSG Entertainment are not welcome in our venues while litigation is ongoing. When the litigation is resolved, they will be welcomed back."

The policy reportedly extends to attorneys handling ticket-scalping disputes, personal-injury claims, and class-action suits against the company — though it carves out exceptions for sexual-harassment and employment-discrimination cases. James Dolan, MSG's chairman and the man largely synonymous with the policy, has publicly defended it in past interviews, framing it as a matter of corporate self-protection rather than retaliation.

Why This Keeps Happening

MSG's facial-recognition-powered banning policy has made headlines before, often for ensnaring lawyers who had zero personal involvement in a case but simply worked at a firm involved in litigation against the company. Critics call it an overreach that punishes professionals for doing their jobs. Supporters within MSG say it's a reasonable boundary for a company constantly fending off lawsuits.

Either way, the Nets just turned MSG's policy into a recruitment tool — and a reminder that in New York sports, even arena rivalries find a way to get personal.