NFL Concussion Suit: Further Changes to Settlement Agreement

Both the plaintiffs and the NFL amended the tentative settlement plan in the NFL concussion suit again in response to U.S. District Court Judge Anita Brody.

Early in February, Judge Brody issued an order that contained recommendations to “enhance the fairness, reasonableness and adequacy” of the proposed settlement agreement. The parties had until Friday to address her five concerns.

First, Judge Brody urged to expand the provision that only counted NFL playing seasons in calculating eligibility of players. The revised agreement credits a half-season for …

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NHL Hit Again With a Concussion Lawsuit

On Monday, February 9,  yet another concussion related lawsuit was aimed at the NHL by former players seeking damages for the NHL’s alleged failure to protect and warn players about the long-term effects of head trauma.

The lawsuit, filed in Minnesota District Court, joins several other previously filed lawsuits alleging similar claims against the NHL.  The 29 plaintiffs in the new complaint, including Manny Legace and Butch Goring, is set to become part of the multidistrict litigation before Judge Sue Nelson that consolidated the previous …

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New Study Heightens Conversation on Concussions and the Danger of Youth Football

A Boston University study released last week provides scientific data to suggest what many parents across the nation have grown to believe, that youth football is too dangerous.  The findings show that NFL players who began  playing football before the age of 12 express more cognitive difficulties than colleagues who began playing football later.  Studies like this one have contributed to a national stigma attributed to the visibly violent though increasingly popular sport, leaving parents uncertain as to how they feel about their children participating.…

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Judge Says NFL Concussion Settlement Needs Changes

On Monday, February 2, Judge Anita Brody of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied the proposed class action settlement agreement reached between the NFL and thousands of former NFL players suing the league for concussion related injuries.

The lawsuit alleges that the NFL intentionally downplayed the risks of concussion-related injuries & their long-term effects on cognitive decline.  In august of 2013, the NFL and over 4,500 players reached a settlement amounting to $765 million.  The settlement has been a point of contention over the last …

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Yet Another Concussion Suit Against WWE

It has been just over two months since a concussion suit against the WWE was filed last October.  Former World Wrestling Entertainment(“WWE”) wrestlers Vito LoGrasso, a.k.a. Big Vito and Skull Von Krush, and Evan Singleton, a.k.a. Adam Mercer, filed a suit against WWE, alleging WWE ignored signs of brain damages and other injuries while it focused on promoting violence for its business.

The court filing said,

“Under the guise of providing entertainment, the WWE has, for decades, subjected its wrestlers to extreme physical brutality

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NCAA Concussion Settlement Denied

On Wednesday, December 17,  federal  Judge John Lee denied preliminary approval of the proposed concussion settlement between the NCAA and the class of current and former NCAA athletes.

The settlement was submitted at the end of July  and proposes $70 million to fund medical monitoring and testing of injured athletes.  The deal also sets aside $5 million for concussion-related research.  The judge denied the settlement, however, taking issue with several aspects of the deal.  The judge expressed concern that $70 million simply would not be …

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Non-Contact Sports Players Expect to Be Added in NCAA Concussion Lawsuit

Seven more players from non-contact sports such as golf, baseball, and volleyball are expected to be added as named plaintiffs in the NCAA concussion lawsuit which is in the middle of a settlement approval process by U.S. District Judge John Lee.  The NCAA and the players reached a preliminary settlement in July that would establish a $75 million fund for concussion related research as well as for diagnosis of current and former players for brain.

At a preliminary approval hearing in October, Judge Lee asked …

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Recent Poll: Half of Americans Don’t Want Their Son to Play Football

Despite football’s popularity as a spectator sport, according to a recent Bloomberg Poll, half of American’s don’t want their son’s playing the game.  Those statistics are even gloomier among the educated; sixty-two percent of college-educated survey respondents said they wouldn’t want their son to play.

Many suggest this decline is attributable to the attention on the negative health impacts of the sport.  Concussions have been a large stumbling block for the NFL.  A vast number of former players have alleged they suffer long-term effects …

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Group of Ex-NFL Players Files Written Objections to NFL’s Proposed Concussion Settlement

On December 2, 2014, a group of ex-NFL players refusing the $765 million concussion settlement filed their objections with Judge Brody of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The written objections to the settlement come two weeks after a fairness hearing was held to determine the fairness of the deal preliminarily agreed to in July.  The settlement was approved by 99% of the roughly 21,000 players in the class, however, some players feel the settlement is simply not enough.

The  main …

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NFL Concussion Suit: Lead Plaintiffs Inadequately Represent Interest of Class Members

Public Citizen Inc., a public interest advocacy group, filed an amicus brief arguing that the two leading plaintiffs Kevin Turner and Shawn Wooden insufficiently represent the interest of the more than 22,000 putative class members in the NFL concussion lawsuit.

The group said in the brief, “[The federal rule governing class certification] does not allow class counsel, representing only two of several necessary subclasses, to make decisions that they and defendants accurately describe as a compromise among the disparate interests of 20,000 class members with …

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