NFHS Lines Up Behind NCAA in O’Bannon Appeal, Files Amicus Brief in Support

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has filed an amicus brief supporting the NCAA in its petition to the Supreme Court appealing the Ninth Circuit’s decision in the case of O’Bannon v. NCAA. In its brief, the NFHS extolled the virtues of amateurism, and warned that “[a]llowing college athletes to receive compensation in any form not tied to their college education not only would threaten the unique nature of college athletics, and thus much of its appeal, but also would diminish …

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NCAA: What To Do With $9 Million?

The marathon antitrust case commenced in 2009 between the NCAA and former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon and other former student athletes continues to this day. Several disgruntled former student athletes are suing the NCAA for wrongfully profiting off their likeness. The former students argue that the NCAA wrongfully used and profited from their names, images and likeness in various ways — including video games like EASports — without being compensated for it.

Last May, U.S. District Judge Wilken ordered the NCAA to immediately pay …

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O’Bannon and Former Student-Athletes Continue Pursuit of Supreme Court Review

On May 26, 2016, former NCAA student-athletes, led by former basketball player Ed O’Bannon, filed a reply brief further urging the Supreme Court to review the Ninth Circuit’s reversal of compensation for the NCAA’s use of student-athletes’ image and likeness. The student-athletes’ contend that the NCAA misconstrued Supreme Court precedent to justify using amateurism as an excuse for its anti-competitive rules which violate federal anti-trust law.

This request to the Supreme Court was the result of a recent Ninth Circuit decision which found the NCAA …

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Bottom of the 9th: San Jose Appeals Ruling in Favor of MLB

In 2013, San Jose, California filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball, claiming violations of anti-trust laws. Specifically, MLB has refused to allow the Oakland Athletics baseball team to move to San Jose, as it asserts that the city falls within the geographic territory of the San Francisco Giants. On Wednesday, MLB asked the United States Supreme Court to uphold decades-old precedent exempting baseball from antitrust laws.

The Ninth Circuit based its ruling on a ruling by the Supreme Court itself from 1922 which exempted …

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U.S. Supreme Court Rules Facebook Threats Not a Crime

On Monday, June 1, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Anthony Elonis, a man convicted for making threats on Facebook against his estranged wife. He originally received a 44-month sentence from a Pennsylvania Court for the online threats, but U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts disagreed, saying there wasn’t enough to support the conviction.

Of importance in the ruling was that Elonis wrote under a pseudo name: “Tone Dougie.” He argued that his social medial postings were stylized as rap …

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On March 27, 2013, in a narrow 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded a Third Circuit decision upholding the class-action certification in a lawsuit accusing Comcast Corp. of unlawfully monopolizing the Philadelphia cable market.

The Court’s decision to reverse the appellate court ruling hinged on the methodology the Third Circuit used in calculating damages – namely, that the decision to certify the class had impermissibly ignored expert testimony and wrongfully added damage amounts related to claims that had been dismissed.  Justice Scalia …

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Supreme Court to Review Comcast Class Certification Appeal

The Supreme Court announced on June 25, 2012, that it will be reviewing the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision in Comcast v. Behrend.  The Court will limit its review to the question of “[w]hether a district court may certify a class action without resolving whether the plaintiff class has introduced admissible evidence, including expert testimony, to show that the case is susceptible to awarding damages on a class-wide basis.”  Comcast sought the review, arguing that the plaintiff class does not have the …

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