Home Field Advantage: Reggie Bush and L.A. Rams Spar Over Proper Venue for Negligence Lawsuit

San Francisco 49ers running back Reggie Bush made a motion to remand a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Rams to state court on Thursday, March 24, 2016, following the Rams’ removal of the case to the Eastern District of Missouri.

During a November game at the Rams’ stadium, Bush ran onto a concrete surface which surrounds the field, where he slipped and injured his left knee. According to the suit, this incident occurred just one week after John McCown, quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, injured …

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Quick Fix: Judge Corrects Ruling and Orders Insurer to Repay $550,000 to Yahoo Over Cancelled NCAA Contest

On Thursday, March 24, 2016, a Texas federal judge ordered insurer SCA Promotions Inc. to repay $550,000 to Yahoo, adjusting a ruling in November entitling Yahoo Inc. to recover half of what it paid SCA under an agreement pertaining to an NCAA March Madness contest. It is unclear what the reason behind the correction was due to confidentiality agreements, which were also the subject of dispute earlier in the litigation.

SCA originally brought a breach of contract suit against Yahoo after Yahoo cancelled an …

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Gawker Bodyslammed with Another $25M, Hogan Award Jumps to $140M Total

In what should come as no surprise to anyone following the case, jurors in the Hulk Hogan right to privacy civil suit against gossip-site Gawker, which was brought over release and publication of a 2006 sex tape involving the wrestling superstar, hit the media company with another $25 million judgment late Monday afternoon on March 21, 2016. The award was for punitive damages, an extra penalty that can be handed out in certain cases where it is found a person went above and beyond conscionable …

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False Advertising Lawsuit against Ex-Redskins Quarterback Not Quite Over

The plaintiffs representing the class action against former NFL quarterback, Joe Theismann, and NAC Marketing urged the Ninth Circuit to revive their claim that was dismissed for lack of redressability. The plaintiffs argue that the claim should not be dismissed just because the defendants refunded money to the plaintiffs.

This suit arose in 2013 when the plaintiffs bought supplements from advertisements featuring the defendants and later discovered the ingredients in the supplements to be ineffective.

In February 2014, the suit was dismissed for lack of …

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Game Over: SCOTUS Refuses to Hear Appeal on Sports Video Game First Amendment Issue

On Monday, March 21, 2016, the Supreme Court refused to hear Electronic Arts Inc.’s appeal from a Ninth Circuit ruling that the First Amendment did not protect it from a class action suit brought by retired NFL players.

The underlying lawsuit, originally filed in 2010, arises out of the inclusion of “historic teams” in EA’s popular video game “Madden NFL.” Specifically, the suit alleged that EA’s use of “historic teams,” past teams that were particularly popular or famous, impermissibly violated players’ state-law rights of publicity.…

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Hulk Hogan Awarded $115 Million in Bout Against Gawker

On Friday, March 18, 2016, after only about six hours of deliberation, a jury of four women and two men hit gossip-site Gawker with a $115 million damages verdict against it in the  Hulk Hogan civil suit over right of privacy and publicity charges. The award, which was handed down on the same day that attorneys for both sides delivered their closing statements, included $55 million in economic damages and $60 million in noneconomic damages. Hogan had been seeking $100 million in total from the …

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Gawker Tries One Final Takedown of Hulk Hogan’s Persona as Trial Nears End

On Thursday, March 17, 2016, Gawker Media LLC, the defendant in a $100 million right of privacy trial brought by wrestling icon and American hero Hulk Hogan over the news site’s publication of a sex tape featuring the Hulkster, made one last stand to the jury on the ninth day of trial and on the eve of closing statements. In keeping consistent with the argument it’s made throughout the trial—that the celebrity and former WWE star Hogan repeatedly bragged about and discussed issues of his …

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Hulk Hogan Trial Update: Jury Hears Lover’s Testimony

Jurors in the $100 million invasion of privacy trial between wrestling superhero Hulk Hogan and gossip-site Gawker heard the previously recorded deposition of Heather Cole — formerly Heather Clem, ex-wife of radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge — better known as the woman Hogan was caught having an affair with in a secretly videotaped intimate rendezvous dating back to 2006. She testified that her former husband told her to have sex with Hogan but never informed her that the encounter was going to be filmed. …

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Real or Fake? Attorneys in Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Trial Showing Litigation Can Be as Entertaining as Wrestling

The Hulk Hogan sex tape civil trial against gossip-site Gawker ended its sixth day of in-court proceedings Monday, March 14, 2016. The case itself is being heavily covered by the media, with defendant Gawker even livestreaming the trial on its website, and comes out of an incident in which the media company published an edited, unsolicited version of a sexual encounter between wrestling-icon Hogan and his former best friend’s wife, Heather Clem. According to Hogan, the affair happened in 2006, and although the rendezvous was …

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Former Yankee Settles Dispute with Underwear Company

On Monday, March 7, 2016, Derek Jeter and a marketer of luxury underwear resolved their dispute over legal fees in Delaware’s Court of Chancery. The settlement resolves Jeter’s fight with RevolutionWear Inc. over attorney’s fees stemming from Jeter’s lawsuit seeking declaration that he complied with his obligations to RevolutionWear and that he is entitled to indemnification.

In 2011, Jeter joined the company’s board of directors. RevolutionWear contends that an essential element of Jeter’s contract was that he would publicly announce his role in the company. …

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