Jeff Ifrah is a Buffalo native-attorney specializing in online gaming and sports betting law. He is the founding partner of Ifrah Law and is recognized by Chambers USA as one of America's top Gaming and Licensing attorneys and litigators. His clients in this area have included Genius Sports, Kambi, Sport Radar, Gaming1, Boom Fantasy, White Hat Gaming, Barstool Sports, The Action Network, Unikrn, Bet365, Playtech, WorldPay, and the Stars Group.
Ifrah is the founder of the influential iDevelopment and Economic Association (iDEA), a non-profit association seeking to grow jobs and expand online interactive entertainment business in the U.S. through advocacy and education, members of which include Golden Nugget, 888, Entain, DraftKings, PaySafe, PointsBet, and Scientific Games. On iDEA’s behalf, Ifrah, alongside other attorneys from Ifrah Law, submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the seminal sports betting case Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, which was decided in favor of iDEA’s argument urging the rights of states to direct their own economies.
Ifrah has held or presently holds many professional memberships and affiliations in the legal and sports betting industries. Ifrah served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law on the topic of Advanced Regulation of Sports Betting, where he taught a certificate program dedicated to the regulatory and legal aspects of sports wagering law and integrity.He is also a member of the UNLV Gaming Law Journal Advisory Board, a member of the Online Gaming Lawyer Editorial Board, a member of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section, and a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law.
Ifrah is also a frequent speaker, author, and commentator on white-collar crime issues and co-authored the book Federal Sentencing for Business Crimes, the only comprehensive treatise on federal sentencing in the context of business and white-collar crimes.
Ifrah is frequently cited by major news organizations on issues in the sports betting industry, white-collar crime, and the broader gaming industry, such as CNN, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, ESPN, and more.
Early Life
Ifrah was born to Moroccan immigrants who settled in Buffalo, New York, and is the only son out of six children.
Education
His early education began in a day school in Buffalo before he later enrolled in a mesivta in Toronto during his adolescence. Before he could receive his high school diploma, Ifrah enrolled at Yeshiva University, having gained early admission. At Yeshiva University, Ifrah earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in medieval Jewish history, with a specialization in Spain. During the summer, Ifrah attended Yeshiva University’s Cardozo Law School, where he met his wife, Barbara.
Military
After hearing a speech from the Jewish Welfare Board about the need for military chaplains, Ifrah decided to work for the military as a lawyer, during a period of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iraq following the Gulf War. Ifrah was commissioned as a First Lieutenant and was stationed at Fort Monmouth.
Ifrah completed basic training and enrolled in the military’s Judge Advocate General School at the University of Virginia. After completing his training at the JAG School, Ifrah worked as Trial Counsel to the communications and electronics military intelligence unit based in Fort Monmouth, which allowed him the opportunity to gain trial experience in cases alleging fraud against the government. After two years of work at Fort Monmouth, he was promoted to captain and made Chief of the Military Law Branch.
Career
Ifrah worked as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Jersey, where he gained trial experience dealing with cases alleging fraud against the government.
In 1997, Ifrah accepted a position with Paul Hastings, a national white-collar law group. In one such case with the firm in 1998, involving an Austrian mobile sports betting operator advertising in New Jersey, Ifrah was exposed to online sports betting. This case led to Ifrah’s representing payment processors in online gaming as well as other businesses in online sports betting and online poker.
In 2006, Ifrah became a partner and shareholder in the litigation department of another global firm, Greenberg Taurig. Ifrah litigated cases involving criminal and civil antitrust laws, securities laws, and the Civil False Claims Act, defending some of the most well-known businesses in the country in industries such as pharmaceuticals, health care, and technology.