One of the major law firms in New Jersey, Gibson Dunn Crutcher LLC, has been paid $282,000 in legal fees in an effort to resolve a case for expanding the state’s gambling industry. The current stage of the process involves a request to the U.S. Supreme Court to take over the lawsuit. According to information from Ashbury Park Press, the public money received by the legal counsels so far amounts to a total of $5.46 million. State officials further clarified the expenses were not a direct cost to taxpayers but were deduced from state casino and racing industry fees.

New Jersey’s long-standing endeavor to legalize sports betting has become an issue of legal gridlock stemming from the state’s inability to bypass a federal prohibition. As of now, the ball is in the court of the next U.S. solicitor general awaiting nomination by the Trump administration. Hopefully, he is to take the case to the next level. Daniel Wallach, a member of the Fort Lauderdale Becker & Poliakoff law firm has suggested that a conservative appointment is likely to support the state’s rights claims.