from the USTA Communications Department

Columbus, OH — Joel H. Sterns, 76, who helped spearhead the establishment of Atlantic City’s multi-billion-dollar casino gaming industry, died Feb. 21, 2011, at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Mr. Sterns and his Trenton, N.J., law firm, Sterns & Weinroth, grew to be recognized as leading practitioners in the gaming industry throughout the nation, in Canada and Europe. He also was the long-time legal counsel to the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey.

Mr. Sterns was raised in Montclair, N.J., and graduated from Northwestern University in 1956. He received a master’s degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs in 1958 and earned a law degree in 1967, commuting to classes at New York University.

A former president of the International Association of Gaming Attorneys, he was an elected member of the American Law Institute, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the Lawyers Advisory Committee of the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.

Mr. Sterns enjoyed music, particularly classical, opera and guitar music, and tennis. He loved Martha’s Vineyard and served on the executive committee and board of governors of the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club. He was fond of horses and horse racing and was a former member of the USTA.

He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Joanne Glickman Sterns; daughters, Rachel and Leslie Johnson; son, David; five grandchildren; and a brother, Maurice.