January 14, 2020 Class Actions / Litigation / NCAA

Federal Judge Rejects Amended Complaint in Ohio State Sexual Assault Case

A federal judge overseeing a sexual assault lawsuit against The Ohio State University (OSU) has denied the plaintiffs’ motion to amend the complaint for the time being, stating that the parties need to focus on mediation.

Hundreds of former athletes and others have filed lawsuits against OSU, alleging that university doctor Richard Strauss, now deceased, sexually abused or assaulted them. In May 2019, law firm Perkins Coie LLP released an investigative report concluding that Strauss sexually abused at least 177 men during his tenure at …

November 4, 2019 Basketball / Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark / Litigation / NBA / Trademark

Adidas and Brooklyn Nets Settle Trademark Lawsuit Over Milkcrate Logo

Adidas and the Brooklyn Nets have agreed to settle a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Milkcrate Athletics Inc. over the use of its logo.

On October 28, 2019, Milkcrate asked a New York federal court to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, noting that a settlement had been reached. No details of this settlement have been revealed.

The lawsuit stemmed from an attempted collaboration between Adidas and Milkcrate. Between 2011 and 2017, Milkcrate owner Aaron “LaCrate” LaCanfora exchanged emails with Adidas seeking to collaborate on a …

October 25, 2019 Advertising / Class Actions / Hockey / Litigation / NHL / Privacy Rights

TCPA Lawsuit Against Tampa Bay Lightning Reaches Class Settlement

A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit against the Tampa Bay Lightning, in which a fan claimed that the NHL team violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by flooding him with unwanted text messages.

Plaintiff Brian Hanley claimed that the team violated the TCPA by using a bait-and-switch tactic. Hanley was under the impression that he had entered a ticket contest for a future Lightning game by texting a short code number. Instead, he had inadvertently signed up for an advertising …

October 21, 2019 Class Actions / Concussions / Hockey / Litigation / NHL

Federal Judge Dismisses Two Ex-NHL Players’ Concussion Lawsuits

A Minnesota federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the NHL by two former players, finding that the court lacks jurisdiction over the suit.

U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson dismissed two lawsuits, filed by Andre Deveaux and Todd Harvey, without prejudice. Judge Nelson reasoned that the players lacked a connection to Minnesota for jurisdiction. Deveaux and Harvey never played for a Minnesota hockey team, nor did they present enough evidence linking them to the state.

As we previously reported, Judge Nelson oversaw a …

February 8, 2019 Concussions / Litigation / NFL

Litigation Funding Companies Claim Judge Improperly Assumed Jurisdiction in Concussion Settlement Case

On January 23, 2019, three litigation-funding companies, RD Legal Funding LLC, Atlas Legal Funding LLC, and Thrivest Specialty Funding LLC told a three-judge panel that U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody, the judge who oversaw the NFL concussion case settlement, improperly assumed jurisdiction over third party funding contracts between the companies and the former players. The litigation funding companies argued that Judge Brody lacked jurisdiction to bar the litigation funding companies from recovering their stake in the settlement.

As we have previously reported, in …

September 18, 2018 Class Actions / Concussions / Litigation / NCAA

Notices in the NCAA $75 Million Settlement Finally Complete

On September 12, 2018, attorneys representing the NCAA notified U.S. District Judge John Lee that the direct notice portion in the $75 million dollar NCAA Concussion Litigation case had ended. As we have continued to report, Judge Lee has delayed the final approval of a $75 million settlement several times after he learned that thousands of current and former NCAA student-athletes were yet to be notified of the settlement. Judge Lee originally approved the $75 million settlement in July 2016, but delays, largely attributed …

July 16, 2018 Concussions / Litigation / NCAA

Update: NCAA $75 Million Settlement Delayed Again

On July 2, 2018, in a joint motion, both parties in the NCAA $75 million concussion settlement asked the court to, once again, push back a final hearing in the $75 million settlement. The parties asked the court to push back the hearing for the same reasons that settlement has been delayed over the past several months, not all of the possible class members have been provided proper notice regarding the settlement. If the judge grants the motion, it will be the sixth time …

March 31, 2017 NCAA

Judge Preliminarily Approves NCAA’s $209 Million Antitrust Settlement

A U.S. District judge has granted preliminary approval for a $208.7 million settlement in the antitrust lawsuit between student-athletes and the NCAA/eleven athletic conferences. The approval came after revisions were added to exclude claims in other athletes’ suits and to modify class definitions.

As background, the student-athletes’ original complaint, filed in 2014, challenged the NCAA’s rules prohibiting universities from paying students a larger sum than a full grant-in-aid — which covers the up to the full cost of university attendance. Not only did the …

March 2, 2017 NCAA

Show Me the Money: NCAA Agrees to Pay Over $200 Million to Former Student Athletes

In a historic moment, the NCAA agreed to settle a portion of a massive class-action lawsuit earlier this month. The total amount — $208.7 million — was agreed to by the NCAA to remedy student athletes who competed prior to January 2015, when the five major college athletic conferences, including the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Pac-12, and Big 12, voted to increase the amount of an athletic scholarship to cover the cost of attending a university. The settlement requires the payment of roughly $6,700 dollars …

January 19, 2017 NCAA

Student-Athlete Attorneys Look to Score in NCAA Concussion Settlement Agreement

On January 13, 2017, attorneys filed a request for $15 million in fees in an Illinois federal court after an early approval of a $75 million settlement by the NCAA for concussion-related health concerns for NCAA student-athletes. The attorneys argued the fee request is reasonable compensation due to the novelty of the case, and their 18,000 hours of attorney-time invested. A hearing is scheduled for May for final approval of the settlement.

The multidistrict litigation included an estimated four million former NCAA student-athletes, and $70 …