New Settlement Proposal Made in NCAA Concussion Lawsuit

On April 14th, the NCAA filed a new proposed $75 million settlement deal to resolve the class-action concussion lawsuit filed against it.  The lawsuit resulted from the consolidation of several cases after former student athletes sued the organization for downplaying and/or neglecting to inform them of the long-term, life altering risk and consequences of sports-related head injuries.

The revised proposal was submitted to address deficiencies in the prior settlement deal that federal judge John Z. Lee rejected last December.  In essence, the core …

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NFL Concussion Settlement Objectors Seek Broader Amendments

On Monday April 14, 2015, a group of former NFL players raised another round of objections in the class action concussion lawsuit against the NFL. The 28 former players who objected to the initial $765 million settlement, contend that an amended settlement is also deficient.

The initial settlement was preliminarily approved in July 2014. However, upon the suggestion of Judge Anita B. Brody, in February, the NFL amended the settlement, paying particular attention to coverage for the families of CTE sufferers. The amended settlement now …

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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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Creedence Clearwater Mark Revisited

There’s a bad moon on the rise once again for John Fogerty.  Fogerty, the former lead singer and guitarist for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Creedence Clearwater Revival, and a man who holds the distinction as being perhaps the only musician in the history of recorded music to be sued for allegedly plagiarizing his own recording in another one of his own recordings, finds himself feelin’ blue again, having been sued last week by his surviving former bandmates, Doug Clifford and Stu …

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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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Former Baltimore Orioles Star sues Seminole Tribe for $10M Over Casino Slip and Fall

Two years ago retired MLB Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson fell off of a stage during a charity event at the Hard Rock Casino in Southern Florida. Now, Robinson is suing the casino’s owner – the Seminole Tribe – for almost $10 million in damages as a result of the plunge.

Allegedly, Robinson’s tumble occurred after the star attempted to stand using the wall behind his chair for support. However, the “wall” was actually a curtain with no railing or other support behind it.  Robinson …

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Google & Viacom Settle Seven Year Old Copyright Suit

On March 18, media giants Google and Viacom announced the settlement of a seven year old copyright dispute regarding content posted on YouTube.  In 2007, Viacom sued Google for copyright infringement accusing the company of posting Viacom programing on YouTube without permission.  The moneyless settlement ends the dispute with what the two companies are referring to as a collaborative effort.

The original suit was filed against YouTube, a Google owned company, seeking more than $1 billion in damages for the alleged infringements.  Viacom accused YouTube …

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Junior Seau’s Family Displeased with Proposed Settlement in NFL Concussion Case

Fighting recently broke out amongst plaintiff’s attorneys attempting to settle the massive multi-district concussion litigation against the NFL after the presiding judge, U.S. District Judge Anita Brody, nixed a $760 million dollar settlement deal proposal.  Judge Brody’s concerns were that the lump sum would be inadequate to fund what could potentially involve 20,000 claims by a variety of NFL alumni over a period of 65 years.  Now, the family of the deceased NFL star Junior Seau is voicing their own objections to the proposed deal.…

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Delay of Game: Slow Progress on Settlement in NFL Concussion Litigation

By late last year the giant NFL concussion lawsuit – a case where several thousand former NFL players are suing the league for intentionally downplaying the risks of concussions and related head injuries – looked to be drawing to an early end.  Now, one week after U.S. District Judge Anita Brody rejected a motion for preliminary approval of a proposed $765 million settlement to end the ongoing multi-district concussion litigation against the NFL, renewed settlement talks amongst attorneys for the 4,500+ NFL alumni are becoming …

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Flag on the Play – District Court Judge Rejects NFL Concussion Settlement Plan

Last fall the NFL and 4,500 ex-NFL players reached a proposed settlement deal of $765 million to end the ongoing multi-district concussion litigation.  In the underlying case, the NFL alumni accused the league of intentionally downplaying the risks of concussions and their correlation to later-life cognitive decline.  In addition to the $765 million sum, the NFL was slated to pay out $112 million in additional funds in plaintiffs’ attorney fees.

However, on January 14, 2014, Judge Anita Brody for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania officially …

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