BY: MICHAEL PERLO Instead of countering the Major League Baseball Players Association’s (MLBPA) latest offer, Major League Baseball (MLB) has requested a federal mediator to assist in its ongoing collective bargaining negotiation. Being someone who is a firm believer in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), I would like to shed light on the positive impact mediation could have for MLB and the MLBPA in coming to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Before the two sides can move forward with a third-party neutral, the MLBPA will have to agree to this. Ultimately if this is the path they choose, here are some aspects of mediation that baseball fans may want to be made aware of when following the rest of the negotiation: Mediation is a private process where a neutral third-party, called a mediator, helps the parties discuss and try to resolve the dispute. The only people who can resolve the dispute are the parties themselves, not the mediator. The mediator does not have the power to make a decision for the parties, but will help steer the conversation in a mutually beneficial direction. The mediation process is completely voluntary, and parties are not required to come to an agreement. Parties are given the opportunity to describe issues, discuss their interests, understandings, and feelings; provide each other with information and explore ideas for resolution of the dispute. The idea is to keep the parties communicating and allow them to better understand their interests. There is a major difference between positions and interests. Currently the MLB and MLBPA are stuck on their positions which is why they are yet to come close to an agreement. A key part of mediation is to get both parties to disclose their underlying interests, which may not have come to light in earlier negotiations. The most common way for parties in a negotiation to reach an impasse is for the parties to be stuck in their positions. Positions are what a party says they want. They are typically surface statements indicating where a party stands, and rarely provide insight into underlying motivations, values or incentives. On the other hand, interests are why a party wants what they want. They are the underlying reasons, values or motivations, and explain why a party takes a certain position. Sometimes a parties position conflicts with their underlying interests. In the case of MLB and the MLBPA, their current positions are getting in the way of their underlying interests of starting the season on-time and generating revenue for a 162 game season. The job of the mediator is less to convince than it is to find solutions that address both parties’ interests. This is why mediation is looked at as an assisted negotiation. There are a number of different ways a mediation can take place. Most mediations start with the parties in a joint session. In the case of the MLB and MLBPA who have many people on each side of the table, it is likely that Commissioner Rob Manfred accompanied by a team of lawyers will sit across from President of the MLBPA, Tony Clark, and his team of lawyers, both aided by a third-party neutral to help facilitate the conversation. The mediator will then describe the process and establish ground rules and an agenda for the mediation. Sometimes mediators will conduct the entire process in a joint session, but if the conversation comes to a halt, the mediators might break and meet with each party individually in what is called a caucus. A caucus is where the mediator will shuttle back and forth between the parties to gauge where they are at in terms of the flow of the conversation, and whatever else they need assistance in discussing. It is more likely than not given the history of the MLB and MLBPA that the process will not be entirely handled in a joint session. The two sides took 43 days to have their first meeting since the start of the lockout on December 1st, and have made little headway since that meeting. As the season gets closer, it is inevitable spring training will be delayed and America’s pastime may not get underway on-time. Mediation might be the key to getting the two sides unstuck from their positions and discussing their underlying interests in greater detail. Mediation is an entirely private process, but if the two sides come to an agreement, much of what was discussed will be laid out in the next CBA. With spring training in jeopardy, the parties know they need to move quickly to start the season on-time, and mediation may be their saving grace that allows just that. Michael Perlo is a law student at the University of Buffalo School of Law, Class of 2023. He can be found on Twitter @michael_perlo.

San Diego, California is taking a page from St. Louis, Missouri’s playbook. In a report from “Conduct Detrimental” co-host Dan Wallach and St. Louis NBC affiliate, KSDK, they filed suit against the NFL for relocating the Chargers from San Diego to Los Angeles after the plaintiffs recently gained access to the Spanos’ family handling of the Chargers. They claim they are a third-party beneficiary, like St. Louis claimed, and the NFL Relocation Policy was not followed correctly by the NFL. They allege they were fraudulently misrepresented, the NFL was unjustly enriched, San Diego was a third-party beneficiary from the relocation, and the Spanos family delayed the discovery process by concealing documents regarding the Chargers’ relocation and the Spanos’ ownership of the Chargers. The Spanos family owns the Chargers, and they are in their own litigation mess. San Diego is claiming they negotiated in good faith, and they formed a committee that proposed plans to Dean Spanos for a new stadium in 2003, but they claim Mr. Spanos made his mind up to relocate the Chargers to Los Angeles as early as 2006. An interesting nugget is once the Chargers relocated from San Diego to Los Angeles, a clause stated the city could not bring suit against the NFL for any matter involving the Chargers and their relocation. An obstacle is the statute of limitations, as more than four years has passed for their lawsuit. St. Louis settled with the NFL for $790 million in November. San Diego is hoping to follow St. Louis’ blueprint to either receive a monetary settlement to pay the outstanding bonds taxpayers must pay from Qualcomm Stadium’s construction, and they believe the NFL relocated the Chargers without giving San Diego a fighting chance to prove they had the best intentions to keep the Chargers. The Chargers played their inaugural season in Los Angeles, but they relocated to San Diego. They became a fixture in San Diego until 2017, when they officially relocated to Los Angeles, ironically in Carson at a 35,000 seat soccer stadium. Carson was a plan where the Chargers and Raiders would relocate there when those owner meetings went on in Houston on January 12th, 2016. These meetings decided the Chargers’ Raiders’ and Rams’ fates regarding their relocation proposals. The owners voted 30-2 in favor of Enos Stanley Kroenke’s Inglewood Project. The two “no” voters were Michael Bidwill and Jerry Richardson, owners of the Cardinals and Panthers respectively. The Carson project had a 4-1 NFL Relocation Committee advantage prior to the Houston meetings, the lone “no” vote was Clark Hunt, who owns the Kansas City Chiefs. Hunt believed in stability, but relocating the Rams from Missouri to California is not stability. Back to the main story, the Chargers and the Spanos family were given the first choice of whether to relocate with the Rams to Inglewood in 2017, and Dean Spanos accepted the choice. Dean Spanos did not have to construct the stadium or pour any money into the stadium, now known as SOFI Stadium. The Chargers pay Kroenke and the Rams $1 to lease as the stadium’s tenants. They have their own locker room within the stadium, as do the Rams. The Chargers are the major victors because for a dollar, they reap in the profits from SOFI Stadium with the Rams, their only major monetary payment was the $500 million relocation fee, split among the other 31 NFL owners. The plaintiffs argue San Diego appointed a committee, similar to St. Louis’ task force, to develop new stadium ideas for the aging Qualcomm Stadium. Their argument lacks the background behind their claims that the NFL acted fraudulently towards San Diego. The NFL did not make it open and obvious they misrepresented San Diego like they did towards St. Louis. They gave Spanos first opportunity to relocate with the Rams because Spanos is well-liked among the other thirty-one owners. The city did not present a viable stadium plan as St. Louis did with National Car Rental Field. There is no history showing Spanos had the intent to relocate, where Kroenke had the intent as early as 2003, when he was on the NFL’s Los Angeles committee when he was a minority owner of the St. Louis Rams. San Diego has an uphill battle in front of them, but if they follow the route St. Louis took in their suit against the NFL, six years from now, they may receive a nine figure settlement. Alex Patterson is a 3L at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. He played football for seventeen years as an offensive and defensive lineman. He graduated from Lindenwood University-Belleville in 2018 with a Bachelor's in Sports Management. He can be followed on Twitter @alpatt71.

BY: Rachel Emendorfer This week Minnesota Law Alum, Suzanne Spellacy, spoke with Minnesota Law Sports Law Association. Spellacy has had an illustrious career following graduation, working for the commercial law firm Winthrop & Weinstine for eight years before leaving the Twin Cities to work for Taylor Corporation in Mankato, Minnesota. Spellacy worked on a wide range of legal issues for Taylor and worked her way up to general counsel. She then became general counsel at Jack Link’s Protein Snacks in Minneapolis. In the summer of 2021, Spellacy became general counsel for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx organization. Spellacy spoke about various types of legal practice her role entails and what a usual workday for her looks like (the best workdays are the ones ending in a Timberwolves win). Her advice to students was to keep an open mind about the path you take working for legal counsel in a sports organization. She encouraged students to focus on types of law most needed within sports organizations: Employment law, Contract law, Litigation and Dispute Resolution, etc. Her other piece of advice was to investigate legal positions for entities owned by sports organizations: restaurants, stadiums, and media entities. Carter Allen (1L) said this of Spellacy’s talk, “Ms. Spellacy gave us some great insight into her day-to-day responsibilities and some of the primary issues at the forefront of sports law today. Her main piece of advice for all of us: Focus less on breaking into sports specifically, and more on becoming the best, most well-rounded attorneys we can be.” Overall, it was a great experience for the Minnesota Sports Law Association, and we are very thankful to Ms. Spellacy for volunteering her time with us. Rachel Emendorfer is a 1L at the University of Minnesota Law School. Prior to law school, she attended the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where she captained the Pioneer women’s basketball team. She can be found on twitter (@_rachel_15) and on LinkedIn under her name. Suzanne Spellacy, Minnesota Law ‘92

It is 2022 and the NFL has turned a blind eye to the Rooney Rule, having not made any amendments to it. There are fantastic assistant coaches that are not Caucasian, such as Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. He has not received, to my knowledge, an interview request for an open head coaching vacancy. It is time the NFL, their owners, and possibly, the NFLPA, look over the Rooney Rule and amend it. NFL.com’s staff released a story about Dan Rooney’s son and current Steelers owner Art Rooney II. He addressed the NFL’s Diversity policies and their general state of affairs: "Over the past several years, our Diversity Committee has recommended, and Ownership has adopted, a number of enhancements to the Rooney Rule as well as new policies and fair consideration for coaching and front office positions." "The details of these enhancements and new policies have previously been made available. He is saying the Rooney Rule has adopted new policies and enhancements to the Rooney Rule, and all thirty-two NFL clubs know about them. The clubs are choosing not to either follow them correctly, or know they are there and not care about them. NFL teams are too worried about their reputation, and they are passing on quality minority coaches that could succeed as head coaches, such as Eric Bieniemy and if in the right situation, Tampa Bay’s coordinators, former Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Byron Leftwich and former New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles, respectively. If the NFL does not get their ducks in a row, they could be facing a massive class-action (multiple plaintiffs) lawsuit, headlined by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the thirty-two owners need to find a way to institute the Rooney Rule on a stricter basis to prevent the sham interviews mentioned in my Brian Flores Lawsuit article. The NFL seems stuck in its own way, and they need to figure out why clubs aren’t hiring minority coaches and front office personnel at the level Dan Rooney envisioned them to be hired. Alex Patterson is a 3L at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. He played football for seventeen years as an offensive and defensive lineman. He graduated from Lindenwood University-Belleville in 2018 with a Bachelor's in Sports Management. He can be followed on Twitter @alpatt71.

In July of 2021, Overtime Elite announced that it signed Francis “LeBron” Lopez, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from the Philippines, to play in its inaugural season. “We’re delighted to have Lebron join the OTE family as we expand our international reach, bringing in top talent from across the globe,” said Brandon Williams, OTE EVP, head of basketball operations. “Francis is a young man who has impressed us with both the combination of pure passion for the game and self-improvement, physical athleticism, work ethic, as well as many leadership intangibles. He’s the kind of player we want and expect to thrive at OTE.” Lopez is represented by SDS Sports Agency. SDS is a full-service management agency for athletes, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, who filed a Form-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, to classify Lopez as an O1A internationally recognized athlete. In its complaint, SDS claims that multiple government parties, including Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Ur Mendoza Jaddou, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, improperly denied the I-29. With that, SDS now seeks judicial review of that denial via this lawsuit. This complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, a United States employer may sponsor a qualified foreign national who, inter alia, has “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics.” The Code of Federal Regulations has defined “extraordinary ability” as a “level of expertise indicating that the person is one of the small percentage who have arisen to the very top of their field of endeavor.” In addition to establishing “extraordinary ability” as defined above, a petitioner must also demonstrate sustained national or international acclaim and recognition for achievements in the field of expertise. In its complaint, SDS writes the following in attempting to establish the "extraordinary ability" in athletics requirement: "Mr. Lopez, at only 18 years old, has already achieved more in his chosen profession than most people do in a lifetime. Just a month after Mr. Lopez’s 18th birthday, he had the distinguished honor of becoming one of the youngest players to ever play for the Philippines Men’s Senior Team in an official International Basketball Federation (“FIBA”) tournament, which is known as the highest level of international basketball competition outside of the Olympics." "Prior to competing in FIBA, he was named among the 2020 SLAM Philippines Rising Stars, which is a list of top high school basketball players in the country. In addition to the two honors, Mr. Lopez has received the following, non-exhaustive list of individual awards: 2020 NCAA Mythical 5, 2019 Batang Gilas U16 4-Star Prospect, 2018 BBI UI7 Mythical 5, and the 2018 MILCU U17 Most Valuable Player. Mr. Lopez’s exceptional achievements are why Overtime Elite Pro League (“OTE”) offered Mr. Lopez a professional contract." Lopez is a highly intriguing prospect and I hope to see SDS succeed in this action. Jason Morrin is a third-year law student at Hofstra Law School in New York. He is the President of Hofstra’s Sports and Entertainment Law Society. Additionally, he is a Law Clerk at Geragos & Geragos. He can be found on Twitter @Jason_Morrin.

Last Tuesday, attorneys for former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court broadly alleging racism by the NFL and team owners in the hiring process for coaching and front office positions. Some of Flores’ claims certainly have merit. After all, the league has a pretty troubling history with racism. The emails from former Raiders coach Jon Gruden to former Washington Commander’s GM Bruce Allen is just one example noted in the Class Action Complaint.[1] The Rooney Rule, initially intended to improve racial disparities in leadership positions, has not lived up to its expectations. That is evident because Mike Tomlin of the Steelers is currently the only black head coach in the NFL and only a few more are general managers. Assuming that Flores’ complaint makes it to discovery (barring the success of a possible motion to dismiss), the evidence unveiled against the NFL and team owners may be devastating. In the meantime, the New York Football Giants have been the subject of much discussion after being specifically named in the lawsuit this week. While Brian Flores has several legitimate reasons for suing the NFL, claiming that the Giants ownership and front office discriminated against him in the hiring process is absurd. Under owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, the New York Giants have long been one of the most highly regarded organizations in the NFL despite a lack of success in recent years. Within the last couple of weeks, they hired Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll from the Buffalo Bills to be their General Manager and Head Coach respectively. However, the process by which the Giants hired Daboll was called into question by Flores who revealed text messages between himself and Bill Belichick pertaining to the Giants head coaching job. Belichick, thinking he was texting Daboll, mistakenly congratulated Flores for being hired by Big Blue three days before Flores interviewed with the team. Even if litigation proceeds in this case, we may never know where Belichick got advanced information, but it is understandable why Flores may have thought the Giants were just interviewing him to fulfill the Rooney Rule. However, if we actually look at the totality of the circumstances surrounding the Giants search for a GM and head coach, it is obvious that the organization conducted a thorough and fair interview process. In terms of the GM position, four of the Giants' nine candidates were black.[2] While all were eminently qualified, they likely went with Joe Schoen because of his involvement in the Bills' flourishing offense with Josh Allen under center. As for the head coach, three of the six candidates Schoen interviewed (including Flores) were black.[3] In both instances, the Giants more than satisfied the Rooney Rule. Why then did the Giants go with Daboll over Flores? Given the state of the organization, it was not because of any unfair discrimination. Rather, it was because the team needed a coach who had demonstrated the ability to develop an offense and a Quarterback. After three years of failing to develop Daniel Jones and the offensive players around him, Brian Daboll was that guy. There’s no question that Brian Flores has proven himself to be a successful head coach. He certainly deserves a head coaching job in the NFL this year, as does a proven offensive coordinator like Eric Bieniemy in Kansas City. But, Flores was not the right person for the Giants this time around. I hope that Flores’ concerns with racial discrimination in the NFL are addressed promptly. It takes a lot of guts to do what he did especially considering the position he is in. However, there should be no quarrel with the way the New York Football Giants conducted their hiring process. It was thorough and fair. End of story. A.J. Lise is a 2L at New York Law School. He is a member of his school’s Dispute Resolution Team and has been a personal injury paralegal since 2018. He can be reached at [email protected] and @aj_lise on Twitter. [1] https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/brian-flores-nfl-lawsuit/44f04359fa5bb496/full.pdf [2] Lewis, Hayden. 2022. Overview of the New York Giants’ 9 general manager candidates. January 15. Accessed February 4, 2022. https://empiresportsmedia.com/new-york-giants/overview-of-new-york-giants-9-general-manager-candidates/. [3] Brown, Larry. 2022. Timeline of New York Giants head coach interviews and Rooney Rule Requirement. February 1. Accessed February 4, 2022. https://larrybrownsports.com/football/timeline-new-york-giants-head-coach-interviews-rooney-rule-requirement/591390.

On January 31, 2022, The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Player Association and the NWSL’s league representatives ratified the first Collective Bargaining Agreement in the NWSL’s history. The NWSL’s president, Tori Huster, commented on the CBA, stating, “Our mission in this historic CBA was to put this same philosophy at the center of NWSL’s future. With the amount of care and attention that we have given this process since Fall 2020, we are proud that players can confidently enter the tenth season of the NWSL in a better position than ever before.” The Player’s Association was also excited for the potential of the CBA to protect players beyond just the scope of the individual team’s rules and guidelines. Some terms of the CBA are outlined below. The NWSL’s CBA provided that all teams must provide the services of, at minimum, a team physician, massage therapist, sports psychologist, sports scientist, and team clinician to provide mental health services. Player safety was a focus of the CBA, with the focus on improved workers’ compensation for the women athletes. Further, the CBA added layers of protection such as six months of paid mental health leave. To support the women athletes in an amplified manner, the CBA stipulated for eight weeks paid parental leave, private nursing facilities for parents, and professional minimum staffing standards for healthcare professionals. Finally, the league agreed to protect players by ensuring a fix season with start and end windows, with a built-in guaranteed forty-two days of vacation, and a seven-day summer break during the season. Further, the CBA took a massive step regarding pay for the women athletes. The CBA requires compensation of a minimum salary of $35,000, with four percent yearly increases. This salary is a 160 percent increase from the previous minimum salary within the league. The CBA also includes a step ladder increase in 2022, with a purpose to protect players above the minimum in 2021 401k plan with matching contributions from the NWSL commencing in 2023. Beginning in 2023, there will be minimum standards for housing stipends. The NWSL also states that there will be improved group licenses provisions, with commitment by the league for $255,000-$300,000 per year for group licensing rights. This CBA took much negotiation by the NWSL’s Player Association, with more than thirty players involved in the negotiating process. The NWSL’s Player Association released a statement regarding the CBA, stating they are “grateful to our brothers and sisters in the labor movement who paved the way for us to get here, and to our fans and partners for their unwavering support. We want to especially thank our legal team of Deb Willig, Jessica Caggiano, and Larry Goodman of Willig, Williams & Davidson. There is no one else we would have wanted to spend more than 400 hours on a Zoom with. To the players who came before us: We stand on your shoulders. We hope we made you proud.” Since the NWSL just began pre-season, time will tell to see how effectively the CBA serves the players. In the meantime, NWSL supporters everywhere are proud to see the steps taken by the NWSL’s Players Association to amplify the rights of our professional soccer players. Ashlyn can be found on Twitter @Ashlyn_Stone2.

Plaintiff Continuum Capital filed a lawsuit against NBA agent Charles Briscoe on Wednesday in the Superior Court in Delaware. Continuum alleges breach of contract and fraudulent inducement. The plaintiff, a Bahamian company, demands a jury trial and requests no less than $2 million in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages and costs. This lawsuit arises out of the formation of Icon Legacy Group. Icon was formed in March 2021 by Continuum (the majority owner) and Briscoe (the minority owner), and was intended to be a sports agency focused primarily on serving athletes playing within the NBA. According to the complaint, at that time, Briscoe represented to Continuum that he was Dwight Howard’s agent and that he was finalizing a new contract for Howard that would generate fees to fund the new business, Icon. Continuum claims that, based on said representation by Briscoe, it gained confidence to invest significant capital into Icon. Specifically, based on Briscoe’s representations and his promise to contribute his existing business, Continuum says that it agreed to invest up to $1.4 million in Icon to enable Briscoe to grow and develop the business. In connection with Continuum’s investment, Briscoe entered into an employment agreement with Icon in April 2021, pursuant to which he agreed to serve as Icon’s CEO and “lead and develop all revenue generation of Icon.” Continuum claims that even after Icon was formed and funded, Briscoe continued to make misrepresentations that business was thriving. Briscoe allegedly told the plaintiff that (1) Icon had signed Chris Duarte, at that time a recent graduate of Oregon University who was likely to be a first-round pick in the NBA draft; (2) Dwight Howard signed a shoe deal that would net Icon $1 million; (3) Duarte later signed a contract with the Indiana Pacers that Icon would receive a significant fee from; and (4) Duarte signed a shoe deal with Nike that would pay Icon 20% of the contract’s value ($200,000 per year plus certain performance bonuses). Due to Briscoe’s representations, Continuum says it ultimately poured $900,000 of funding into Icon. However, plaintiff claims that it discovered in August 2021 that Briscoe lost Howard as a client and that Icon never received any of the proceeds that Briscoe claimed were forthcoming from the Howard and Duarte contracts. On Duarte, Continuum claims that it had good reason to believe that the former Oregon guard signed as an Icon client. On April 12, 2021, Chris Haynes, a Yahoo Sports reporter covering the NBA, announced on his Twitter account that Duarte had signed with Icon. Additionally, on that same day, Briscoe posted on Icon’s Instagram page (@icon_legacy_group) that Icon had signed Duarte (as of the filing of the Complaint, the post is still active). On Howard, Continuum claims that it also had good reason to believe that the center was an Icon client. Consistent with Briscoe's representations asserting such to be true, three posts were put up on the Icon Instagram page that related to Howard (which further supported Briscoe’s claim that Icon was representing him). However, in August of 2021, Continuum says it learned through the media that Howard had signed a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers with another agent. This announcement, released by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on August 2, 2021, stated that Howard’s agent was Qais Haider, not Icon (as Briscoe had represented both personally and via the Icon Instagram page). Icon never received payment for the Howard or Duarte shoe deals, nor any contract in connection with either player. Upon said discoveries, Continuum demanded that Briscoe buy the company out of Icon. According to the complaint, Briscoe did agree to do so and the parties entered into a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement on September 29, 2021, to memorialize the terms of the buy-out. Pursuant to the agreement, Continuum says Briscoe agreed to make three scheduled payments to Continuum by November 29, 2021, for a total amount of $900,100 in exchange for all of Continuum’s interest in Icon. Despite multiple demands, Continuum claims it has yet to receive a single payment from Briscoe under the agreement, and thus filed this lawsuit. Accordingly, per the complaint, "Continuum seeks a judgment awarding it (1) compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial, but in no event less than $1,000,000 resulting from Briscoe’s breach of the Agreement by failing to make the required payments thereunder; (2) compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial, but in no event less than $1,000,000 resulting from Briscoe’s fraudulent misrepresentations inducing Continuum to enter into the Term Sheet and fund Icon; (3) punitive damages; (4) Continuum’s costs in bringing this action; and (5) such further relief that the Court deems just and proper." Jason Morrin is a third-year law student at Hofstra Law School in New York. He is the President of Hofstra’s Sports and Entertainment Law Society. Additionally, he is a Law Clerk at Geragos & Geragos. He can be found on Twitter @Jason_Morrin.

Apart from the San Diego lawsuit, there may be some controversy in St. Louis about their settlement with the NFL. Dan Wallach, co-host of “Conduct Detrimental,” made an interesting discovery regarding St. Louis’ city attorney. The city attorney is a former equity partner at the Dowd Bennett LLP law firm. The Dowd Bennett law firm was one of the two firms that represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the NFL. Less than two months before she became St. Louis’ city attorney, the firm still considered her a partner. In attorney fees, the Dowd Bennett firm received a figure that reached nine figures, approximately $125 million they received from their work and involvement as the plaintiffs’ co-attorneys. This is an interesting discovery because the public may wonder why the plaintiffs settled when the dollar amount could have reached billions, and this may be a link to it, or this could be a plain coincidence. Trial would have started January 10th, and now that the Rams are participating in Super Bowl LVI at SOFI Stadium, Kroenke’s gem, this litigation would have put the football world on notice to St. Louis rather than all attention to Inglewood, California. Mayor Jones said she did not agree to a settlement, but her statement could be taken out of context. The client has the ultimate say in their case, but the attorneys could have advised her to take the money now rather than litigate it against the NFL in a court of law where nothing was certain. I find it hard to believe she had influence over Mayor Jones’ and County Executive Page’s decision to settle the lawsuit. The money is guaranteed, and there is no pending litigation. They do not have to pay any more attorney fees, and they guaranteed St. Louis with over $500 million for public funding. The attorneys, on a thirty-five percent contingent fee, took in over $200 million for their respective firms. Over six long and grueling years of litigation are over for St. Louis. They can forget about the NFL, as most St. Louisans have after the Rams left on that grim day in 2016, January 12th to be exact. St. Louis does not need the NFL. They have the Cardinals and are considered a “baseball town.” They rally behind their sports teams, the Cardinals, the NHL’s Blues, and the MLS’ St. Louis City, who begin play in 2023. The NFL is a bygone for the city, and they are hoping they receive the Battlehawks again once Dwayne Johnson rejuvenates the Xtreme Football League (XFL). They despise Stan Kroenke and Kevin Demoff, akin to Mr. Burns and Waylon Smithers from The Simpsons, but it has been six years since the Rams left town. If it was not for Kroenke partnering with then Rams owner Georgia Frontierre, the Rams never would have left Los Angeles for St. Louis. Kroenke cares about the money, not the cities or people he “hurts” in the process. The NFL is a business, and it stands for “Not For Long” for markets to keep their teams if the owners do not get their way. I’m still rooting for whichever team plays the Rams, but it is not the players fault or Sean McVay’s fault they left St. Louis. It is Stan Kroenke’s pursuit for money that caused the Rams to leave St. Louis, and he played the league like a fiddle, with the alleged help from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Roger Goodell may have played a part, but the NFL wanted Los Angeles, and Kroenke was one of the few owners who had the pockets to get them there. I hope this is addressed in greater detail prior to Super Bowl LVI. St. Louis has not discussed what they plan to do with the settlement money, and who had the final say to accept the NFL’s settlement offer. Thank you to Dan Wallach for his deep dive into the settled St. Louis lawsuit. Alex Patterson is a 3L at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. He played football for seventeen years as an offensive and defensive lineman. He graduated from Lindenwood University-Belleville in 2018 with a Bachelor's in Sports Management. He can be followed on Twitter @alpatt71

Dan Rooney, the former Pittsburgh Steelers' owner, proposed a rule where NFL clubs must interview at least one minority for their head coaching job and other open positions. However, this process has become a laughingstock and an embarrassment in the NFL. The Rooney Rule was instituted with great intentions to include diversity among coaches and front office personnel in the National Football League (NFL) when it was introduced in 2002-2003 following the controversial firings of head coaches Tony Dungy and the late Dennis Green. Dungy was the Buccaneers head coach, and Green was the Minnesota Vikings head coach. It is supposed to institute affirmative action. However, only three head coaches are minorities. Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers is African-American, Robert Saleh of the New York Jets is Lebanese, and Ron Rivera of the newly named Washington Commanders is Latino. Minority coaches make up a whopping 0.09% rate of head coaches in the NFL. Clearly, the rule has good intentions, but it is not working Affirmative action refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking to include particular groups based on their gender, race, sexuality, creed or nationality in areas in which they are underrepresented such as education and employment. Currently in the NFL, minority head coaches make up . Allegations are arising that former head coaches were asked to lose games, and if they did, they would be paid a salary bonus by the club’s owner. As reported by ESPN, the NFL Network, The Athletic, and other sources, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores was “interviewed” by the New York Giants after the club made its decision to hire former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. Technically, the Giants adhered to the Rooney Rule, but the story gets worse. Brian Flores was an assistant under Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots’ head coach. Coach Belichick sent Mr. Flores a congratulatory text about receiving the head coaching job with the Giants. Mr. Flores responded, saying he did not receive the job. Coach Belichick said something along the lines of “oops, my bad.” Now, Kevin Seifert of ESPN reports Brian Flores has filed a class action lawsuit against the NFL and its teams this week, accusing them of sham interviews, incentivizing losses and pressure to improperly recruit players. An example is Hue Jackson during his tenure with the Cleveland Browns. Browns’ owner Mr. Haslam allegedly told Coach Jackson for every game he lost, he would pay him an extra $100,000. Brian Flores was offered monetary awards by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross for the same action. Brian Flores was fired after two seasons at the helm, and he did not have a losing season. Another example is an African-American coach being interviewed by the Denver Broncos, and there are accusations that team president John Elway walked in, conducted a quick interview, and left. The Broncos conducted the interview to meet the Rooney Rule requirement. Late Thursday evening, the Jacksonville Jaguars announced they hired former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. One can wonder if there were any “sham” interviews conducted by their owner Jeffrey Lurie. Alex Patterson is a 3L at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. He played football for seventeen years as an offensive and defensive lineman. He graduated from Lindenwood University-Belleville in 2018 with a Bachelor's in Sports Management. He can be followed on Twitter @alpatt71.

This week has been a whirlwind of reveals in the NFL. Brian Flores filed suit against the NFL for a plethora of claims including racial discrimination. Brian Flores also claimed that Miami Dolphins Owner, Stephen Ross, offered him $100,000 bonus for every loss in the 2019 season. That was a stunning revelation, yet it was hearsay (admissible hearsay), but hearsay nonetheless. Then a few days ago an article appeared on the nfl.com website with an accompanying tweet about a potential witness to corroborate the claim by Former Miami Dolphins Head Coach, Brian Flores that owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every loss during the 2019 season. The obvious thinking regarding losing on purpose commonly known as “tanking” is that you ensure that you get a very, very high pick preferably the number #1 overall pick to put yourself in position to acquire a franchise QB. The star QB of the 2020 NFL draft was in fact Cincinnati Bengals QB, Joe Burrow who was a prime target for a trade in the draft. The Miami Dolphins held several First Round Picks including the #5 overall in the 2020 draft but were unable to convince the Bengals to part with the rights to draft Joe Burrow (a very wise decision indeed). Flash forward to today and Joe Burrow aka “Joey Brrrr” is facing off against fellow SEC QB, Matthew Stafford in Super Bowl XLVI next Sunday at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles while Dolphins starting QB, Tua Tagovailoa is probably off not learning his playbook somewhere. The article then disappeared. However, that begs the question, why would an article with a potential witness simply “disappear”? Well, that article could have been the smoking gun in a potential criminal case against Stephen Ross for Bribery in Athletic Contests. When prosecutors are deciding whether to file charges against a defendant, they always look to see what corroborating evidence they have because the standard of “beyond a reasonable doubt” is an incredibly high bar to achieve. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office would need more than Brian Flores saying Stephen Ross offered me $100,000 per loss during the 2019 season. That is because a prosecutor is not going to want to go to trial on just those facts because Mr. Ross would be facing a dream team of lawyers in a potential criminal trial. It would be a 5-10 minute Not Guilty. However, a potential corroborating witness is a horse of a different color. In any criminal case, if you have an independent witness who doesn’t have a dog in the fight, their testimony is exceptionally compelling to a jury. A jury listens to that witness with their full attention because what motive do they have to lie? A great prosecutor then digs deeper and finds out that this potential witness is one of several potential witnesses or even that physical evidence exists. I personally do not think Mr. Ross would be careless enough to make that offer via email or in writing. As seen above, this charge is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. However, the offense is a level one offense (Florida follows sentencing guidelines and as such any potential conviction would not result in prison). A conviction could absolutely lead to an adjudication or even jail time. However, how likely would that be? Without the corroborating witness, the likelihood of a conviction is close to zero. Under the statute, an individual need only to promise payment to somebody in a position to control the outcome of the game. A coach can absolutely control the outcome of the game. Additionally, Brian Flores allegedly rejected the offer and did nothing to intentionally lose games. However, with an independent corroborating witness, the potential for conviction jumps to roughly 60%+ because the prosecutor will explain why Stephen Ross wanted Brian Flores to tank; he wanted Joe Burrow. If Joe Burrow wins the Super Bowl, everybody in the country will know his name and those who watched the Super Bowl will understand EXACTLY why Stephen Ross allegedly offered Brian Flores what he did. If he lost, all 16 games, Flores would have collected $1.6 million. That is peanuts compared to money Ross would make on Joe Burrow jerseys, season tickets, marketing opportunities etc. Stephen Ross would make it back 1000x if Flores accepted. There was another report that Stephen Ross tried to facilitate an impromptu meeting between Flores and pending Free Agent Quarterback, Tom Brady when their yachts just happened to be near each other. The corroborating witness article got taken down because my educated guess is that attorneys for Stephen Ross’ made NFL.com take it down. If a prospective prosecutor saw that article, you better bet some prosecutor would have asked law enforcement to investigate. Motive is not required to be proven in a Florida criminal case. However, the jury can connect the dots that Mr. Ross wanted to acquire a true franchise Quarterback by any means necessary. Hopefully, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office opens an investigation; because after seeing what happened with Washington, we know the NFL doesn’t truly conduct independent investigations. Matthew F. Tympanick is the Founder/Principal of Tympanick Law, P.A., located in Sarasota, Florida, where he focuses his practice on Criminal Defense and Personal Injury Law. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts School of Law where he served as a Public Interest Fellow and as a Staff Editor on the UMass Law Review. He was previously a felony prosecutor for over three years and civil attorney for nearly two years in Sarasota, Florida. As a prosecutor, he tried nearly forty jury and non-jury trials and prosecuted thousands more. You can follow him on Twitter @TympanickLaw. Arrested or Injured? Don’t Panic…Call Tympanick (1-888-NOPANIC). www.tympanicklaw.com

As reported by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, New Orleans Saints star Alvin Kamara was arrested for Battery with Serious Bodily Injury after allegedly beating someone up in a nightclub on Saturday night. That charge is a Class B felony and as such punishable by 1 to 5 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. However, what did Mr. Kamara allegedly do to the victim to be arrested for such a crime? As reported by Metro Police, they were called to the hospital to interview the alleged victim in this case. Based on the victim interview, they appear to have concluded that they had enough evidence to arrest Mr. Kamara of the crime of Battery with Serious Bodily Injury. Battery is normally a misdemeanor; however, the serious bodily injury component makes it a Class B felony. The most likely scenario is that the alleged victim sustained either broken bone(s) or was forced to get stitches because of the alleged altercation with Mr. Kamara. Under the statute, either is enough to sustain the Class B felony charge. Additionally, since this is a Las Vegas nightclub there had to have been video surveillance of the entire club and very likely caught this whole incident on video. I await the inevitable video leak of this incident via TMZ. I reviewed the Clark County Court Website to get more facts about the alleged incident, but details were very scarce. This case will develop and I want to know the following: How did this alleged altercation begin? Did Mr. Kamara throw the first punch or did the victim, or someone associated with the victim do it? That matters because Mr. Kamara could argue self-defense and I do not think any jury is going to sympathize with a victim who starts the fight and cries foul when somebody else finishes it. Who are the potential witnesses? Is Mr. Kamara there with his crew or are other NFL players potential witnesses in this case? Independent witnesses are liquid gold in battery cases. If they exist, it allows a jury to better understand what led to the fight from somebody who has no motive to fabricate the truth. I hardly think that Mr. Kamara just walked up to a random person and punched him for no reason. There had to be some lead up to the altercation. Battery cases are very difficult to prove because usually the victim does not want to press charges. However, that is usually only the case in domestic violence battery cases (where the victim and defendant are in a romantic relationship). That is unlikely the case here because my feeling is that it was an altercation with somebody Mr. Kamara had just met on Saturday night. Victims who have no relationship with the Defendant almost always want to move forward with the charges. The reason is that the victim’s don’t have a voice in their head saying this was a one-time thing he/she will be better in the future. He/she just needs help. The alleged victim in Mr. Kamara’s case doesn’t have that voice. The victim in Mr. Kamara’s case is likely thinking, “|He needs to be punished for what he did and he needs to pay up.” I fully expect the victim to sue Mr. Kamara and the nightclub in civil court before this case is over but that is a discussion for another day. For now, this incident is the third incident of NFL players in Las Vegas in as many months (Henry Ruggs III and Damon Arnette being the others) and is challenging the mantra that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Matthew F. Tympanick is the Founder/Principal of Tympanick Law, P.A., located in Sarasota, Florida, where he focuses his practice on Criminal Defense and Personal Injury Law. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts School of Law where he served as a Public Interest Fellow and as a Staff Editor on the UMass Law Review. He was previously a felony prosecutor for over three years and civil attorney for nearly two years in Sarasota, Florida. As a prosecutor, he tried nearly forty jury and non-jury trials and prosecuted thousands more. You can follow him on Twitter @TympanickLaw. Arrested or Injured? Don’t Panic…Call Tympanick (1-888-NOPANIC). www.tympanicklaw.com