Breaking: TB12 Authorizes Federal Court Case!

I'm much more interested in the lawsuit than I am the season now. This farce has killed any interest not pertaining to the legal show for me.

YOUGOTMOSSED said:

Can anyone confirm that the NFL filed for an injunction in the Southern District of NY federal court?

If so, how the heck do they have standing to do this?

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Similarly, what are the odds that the Manhattan court says "no, we won't confirm ****. Stop wasting our time, if he sues he sues". Are courts generally in the habit of preemptively affirming private matters that haven't yet been litigated?

the nfl has asked for a declaratory judgment to resolve the dispute. this is often done when one party threatens the other with litigation. the nfl does not have to be the wronged party to ask for one.

So Goodell withheld his decision until his lawyers could draw up the legal documents and file them simultaneously with the announcement of his decision, gee that sounds like the actions of a neutral arbitrator!

Brady really messed up by destroying the phone, no way around it, that was dumb, the NFL has no right to that phone or its contents, so destroying it was just plain stupid.

Any serious look at this case by an impartial arbitriator should kill the NFL's case and their backhanded rulings.

If this isn't enough for Kraft to call for Goodell's head, I don't know what is.

BradyFTW! said:

Similarly, what are the odds that the Manhattan court says "no, we won't confirm ****. Stop wasting our time, if he sues he sues". Are courts generally in the habit of preemptively affirming private matters that haven't yet been litigated?

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2 basic legal principles being overlooked here:

1. it's the plaintiff's (Brady/NFLPA) prerogative to choose which venue to commence an action;

2. court's are not allowed to do "advisory opinions"- basically, asking a court for it's legal opinion of a matter not in suit.

That sports lawyer from UNH just said on weei that Brady's argument in fed court is in no way a slam dunk...and bradys argument is not as strong as Adrian petersons or ray Rice's.... Yikes

FCB02062 said:

That sports lawyer from UNH just said on weei that Brady's argument in fed court is in no way a slam dunk...and bradys argument is not as strong as Adrian petersons or ray Rice's.... Yikes

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nfl's tactics say otherwise.

Meanwhile Mr. Kraft just went full ostrich and is currently sticking his head in the sand.

Note: IANAL

FreeTedWilliams said:

Brady really messed up by destroying the phone, no way around it, that was dumb, the NFL has no right to that phone or its contents, so destroying it was just plain stupid.

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Absent court proceedings the NFL has no right to the phone.

However, once litigation commences the phone may well be subject to discovery.

If Brady waits too close (and no, I don't know what "too close" is) to the start of litigation to destroy the phone then (again, IANAL!!) once litigation does start and it comes out that the phone has been destroyed, the court can penalize him for spoliation of evidence.

However (and again, IANAL!!), if the phone is destroyed "far enough" before things start (I don't claim to know what the boundary of "far enough" is, either), then spoliation is off the board.

FreeTedWilliams said:

Brady really messed up by destroying the phone, no way around it, that was dumb, the NFL has no right to that phone or its contents, so destroying it was just plain stupid..

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From an optical standpoint, it was dumb.

From a practical PoV that would ensure his personal privacy as a high-profile celebrity with Ted Wells and his band of lawyers hiring digital forensic experts to scour the lines for innocuous Brady texts and weave them into a slanted narrative or use them toembarass him personally, it was a very, very smart move.

I don't think he would have done this without the advice of his lawyers.

Destroying his own phone is not an admission of guilt.

What a circus.

What did he gain in admitting that he destroyed the phone? I can advise him for far less cheap and I don't think I can do worse than the lot he is using right now.

QuantumMechanic said:

However, once litigation commences the phone may well be subject to discovery.

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In a defamation case. nfl has no subpoena power to look at players personal cell phones, they have no proof Brady had knowledge of any tampering and the only time they punished someone for not handing over a cell phone was a $50k fine.

People are forgetting that all of the text messages are a matter of record with the phone company. Those can and will probably be subpoenaed.

My favorite attorney Stephanie Stradley from the Houston Chronicle is absolutely killing it again today!

https://twitter.com/stephstradley

Stephanie Stradley ‏@StephStradley 2h2 hours ago
So the NFL wants to suspend Tom Brady four games over a move the goal line discovery dispute, bad science, and a belief he is a liar?

Stephanie Stradley ‏@StephStradley 1h1 hour ago
Brady is basically being punished for a discovery dispute and lawyer advice on same. Phone thing is a red herring.

Stephanie Stradley ‏@StephStradley 1h1 hour ago
Stephanie Stradley retweeted Sam Richard

Evidence spoliation mostly applies when the state or opponent is entitled to that information. Union guy's cell? Nah

Stephanie Stradley ‏@StephStradley 55m55 minutes ago
NFL's usual argument in court sums up to, "We're entitled to be unfair." Whether you hate NE or no, process abuse should concern all fans.


Stephanie Stradley ‏@StephStradley 30m30 minutes ago
Stephanie Stradley retweeted Keen Johnson

HA!!!! SHHH! #Deflategate is the over-reaction to the criticism of #Spygate. No common sense: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/16/sports/sp-nflcol16…

Stephanie Stradley added,

Keen Johnson @keenjohnson1
@StephStradley @RumfordJohnny @Frobeus_NS Didnt the NFL destroy all the evidence/videos and notes from spygate?#hypocrites

TommyBrady12 said:

the nfl has asked for a declaratory judgment to resolve the dispute. this is often done when one party threatens the other with litigation. the nfl does not have to be the wronged party to ask for one.

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The complaint asks the court to confirm the arbitrator's award under the LMRA. They want the case venued in NY. No judge assigned yet.

chasa said:

Sooooo when do we start the #boycottNFL twitter campaign?

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Well I no longer have the NFL Network. Take that multi-billion dollar behemoth NFL!

so some actuallty believe Brady destroyed his phone withoit his attorney's approval? I highly doubt that is wgat happened.

PatsWSB47 said:

He who laughs last........

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thinks slowest?

Why does Brady's phone matter at all in this case? Don't they already have Jastremski and McNally's phones, and therefore, any potential incriminating texts they could've had with Brady?

TomPatriot said:

The complaint asks the court to confirm the arbitrator's award under the LMRA. They want the case venued in NY. No judge assigned yet.

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I imagine a billion dollar company has some legal connections. If NFL goes to NY and NFLPA goes to MN, who decides where it ends up?