Class Action Lawsuit - Research Paper Example

Teacher’s 14-2 Action Lawsuit Background The National Football League has faced a wide range of criticismwhen it comes to issues relating to injuries and brain safety. Concussions are common enough for the players to call for the website NFL Evolution to help the players deal with concussions and injuries. According to UPI, as of May 2012, the National Football League already faces 70 lawsuits by 1,800 retired players including Randy White, Bob Lilly, and Rayfield Wright and other players from the Hall of Fame. Player safety has long been a highly controversial issue in American football and traumatic injuries have been in the center of the causes. Prevention of injuries in this support has caught media attention and has been on public service messages and being dealt with on different training levels. Unfortunately, this has not been enough. The number of players suffering is large enough this time again to make a joinder impracticable; hence the class action lawsuit was filed, while others still continue to sue the league individually. The lawsuits accuse the National Football League of fraudulent concealment, material misrepresentation, conspiracy, negligence, obfuscation and negligent misrepresentation. The players claim that, whether or not they had played differently, if they were fully informed, the league’s failures would not get an excuse. They allege that the league failed to take proper precaution for the protection of its players from repeated hits on the head which resulted in brain injuries later in life. Players cite short term memory loss, depression, mood swings, long term brain injuries, dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy being suffered by many of them as a result of what was the National Football League’s responsibility. A master complaint has been filed, consisting of over 100 lawsuits at the moment involving over a 1000 ex-players, while the league vehemently denies the accusations. Plaintiffs’ Approach Being the plaintiffs’ attorney, it is natural to make the first move and make use of the tactical advantage and build the lawsuit based on the inherent advantage of acting first. Keeping the timing in control and handling the sequence of discovery accordingly, it is most appropriate to keep the defendant in a defensive position for the entire lawsuit and keep the players’ perspective dominating. The best course of action would be to take the steps to schedule the discovery and keep the defendant’s hands on to producing discovery which they cannot lawfully resist; a step further on requiring full details and a full paper discovery in depositions would enhance the chance for a favorable settlement or verdict (Coffee 677-678). A case filed when everything is set and ready is to be good enough to challenge the defendant's sufficiency in each of the answers to make it possible for a move to strike as an insufficient defense under US Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(f). The next step would be to keep the defendants on a firm deadline, be it the scheduling of discovery or trial dates, and get what you require in waves or groups of interrogatories and requests starting from the documents relating to the league’s information on head injuries and prevention followed by a wave of depositions of the league’s current and former employees and designates. The essential part in this approach would be to wait till completely making your case before producing the players in the court for testimony or deposition, not only keeping the defense lawyers anxious to get at the plaintiffs by raising comparative faults and judgment errors on behalf of players but also not giving them the opportunity to have a re-deposition. Producing the experts for opinion and fact verification and then questioning the defendant’s experts would maintain the initial advantage on the case, giving you the chance to question the defendant's documents and experts after they have had to question yours. Keeping a systematic approach towards the case properly, presenting the negligence and misrepresentation, sorting out the damage and liability by the league is a sure way to keep in control and force defense into undesirable decisions and finally getting the intended outcome. Defendant’s Approach As a defendant, it is obvious that you have only the given time to prepare your case and meet the deadlines. In such a situation it is best to make the opposition exhaust all their benefits to completely put the burden of proof on them followed by a rigorous analysis of the merits of the players’ claim: a good preparation to find inconsistencies and taking advantage of the decisions that lower the burden on the league in the controversy. Approaching with specific rebuttals towards less severe injuries is likely for a win on liability to totally avoid damages. Cautiously presenting, not admitting liability, it would be wise to let the jurors have a counter figure to plaintiffs’ ad damnum, keeping the rebuttal as an anchor to bend the findings favorable to defense. Jury’s sympathies towards the injuries would influence the decision in any circumstances in the severely injured cases. A specific rebuttal will not be taken as admission of liability and should help counter this sympathy on how jurors perceive the defendant’s position by entertaining the idea of damages but with counter arguments in place with a discussion of how the client is not the one to be held liable. A preemptive attack on class certification allegations to strike them under Rule 12(c) or a motion to strike class allegations under Rule 23(d)(1)(D) deeming the class treatment as inappropriate is recommended by P. Russell Perdew and D. R. Sargent in such a situation. This is the first step to gain the opportunity to frame the issues by filing the opening brief and at the same time getting the last word in the reply brief; this will be at the risk of the burden being put on the defense and might tell the plaintiff where the case is weak but the reward of a strike is high. It is in the benefit of the defense to individualize issues; making the plaintiff demonstrate equitable tolling will put further burden on the plaintiff and denying class certifications would significantly attain this, and the best would be not to let the plaintiff avoid a dismissal by arguing obscurity by staying completely focused on the first things first. Conclusion The key to winning a class action lawsuit and the accompanying individual cases for either side is to keep the engaging mechanisms to their benefit and gain as much control over framing and handling the case as possible. A better control to put things your way gives you a better chance to make the point you want clearly and to defend or prosecute with the opposition busy in countering only. Where the defense can anchor on depersonalizing the players’ lives to avoid sympathy in jury’s decision making, the plaintiff has the advantage of time and presenting the issue at length with a greater control on schedule. Works Cited Coffee, Jr., J. C. “Understanding the Plaintiff's Attorney: The Implications of Economic Theory for Private Enforcement of Law Through Class and Derivative Actions.” Colum. L. Rev. 86.669 (1986): 677-678. Perdew, P. Russell, and Douglas R. Sargent. “Creative Class Action Defense Strategies.” Locke Lord. 2011. Web. February 24, 2013. http://www.lockelord.com/files/Event/7aa8d717-8dad-4a0f-8388-3ba6dab4bbd4/Preview/EventAttachment/68e88d24-5cbc-4d91-a2bd-1b1424a6aeda/OutlineofCreativeClassActionDefenseStrategies_Perdew.pdf. Read More