Attorneys working on the $2.8B House settlement filed a brief Monday night “that did not include changes a judge suggested regarding team roster limits,” saying “such a late change to that rule would create havoc.” The plan on the table, the attorneys said, “is a vast improvement over the status quo” and they “offered only a few tweaks” to the deal. The filing came in response to U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken’s suggestion last week that the terms of the roster limit rules “be adjusted ‘to grandfather in a group of rostered people’ set to lose their spots on teams if the caps come into play.” Wilken has already granted preliminary approval of the settlement. In addition to asking for Monday’s adjustments from attorneys on both sides of the case, Wilken has “asked for objectors to respond to the new brief on Tuesday.” Attorneys “expect her final decision on the settlement to come in a matter of weeks” (AP, 4/15).
The new filing also “attempts to further clarify the rights of future athletes under the 10-year period that the settlement seeks to cover.” This was another issue on which Wilken “spent considerable time during last week’s hearing.” In addition, the new filing “attempts to address issues that some athletes said they had in submitting information via an online portal set up by the third-party administrator.” Under the presumptive revisions, athletes “would be given additional time to file claims” -- until May 16. In addition, the plaintiffs’ lawyers said they and the administrator “would continue to work with athletes regarding claims and that updates to damages allocations are still being made” (USA TODAY, 4/15).
