NFL: lawyers almost ****ed it up again

[Mr. Laz]

<table><tbody><tr><td> Source: NFL talks 'almost blew up' Tuesday


</td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top"> <table width="50px" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#CC0000"> Jun</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center"> 15</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td valign="top"> 6/15/2011 10:13:36 AM <table> <tbody><tr> <td> | More
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Adam Schefter of ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6663832) reports one person close to the talks between the NFL and NFLPA went so far as to say, "This almost blew up yesterday."

How close it did is a matter of opinion. But what is factual is that the moment came shortly after lawyers from both sides were brought back into the process. As tensions rose and anger grew, two sources said NFL Players Association leader DeMaurice Smith instructed his lawyers to "stand down."

With the lawyers removed from the direct negotiations, the process was said to get back on track and to a good spot. The incident is an example of just how tenuous these talks can be and how quickly they can be derailed.

But it also is the ultimate proof that Smith and his players, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners have taken the process out of the hands of the attorneys and demanded that they control it as the two sides try to hammer out a collective bargaining agreement.

During these negotiations this winter, many around the league worried that the lawyers were controlling the process. But Tuesday's events are the strongest evidence to date that they are not.

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[Brock]

I don't want to hear the labor pains, just show me the baby.

[DMAC]

Lawyers only exist to drag shit out and get pizaid.

[Amnorix]

The lockout is the lawyers' fault!! Sure, go with that...

[DeezNutz]

If a deal is going to get done, lawyers will inevitably be involved.

[Mr. Laz]

The lockout is the lawyers' fault!! Sure, go with that...nobody said that

[DMAC]

The lockout is the lawyers' fault!! Sure, go with that...

They drag it out.

[HotRoute]

They drag it out.

Like rupaul?

[Over-Head]

Why does the song "Lawyers, Guns and Money" come to mind....:hmmm:

[Dartgod]

Why does the song "Lawyers, Guns and Money" come to mind....:hmmm:
Because "Werewolves of London" doesn't really apply in this case? :shrug:

[Ace Gunner]

what do lawyers do? ya, they "fight for you..!!"

if the NFL wanted negotiations, they should've hired negotiators. certainly, the NFLPA would have followed that lead just as easily.

[Titty Meat]

I called this in the other thread.

[ModSocks]

I called this in the other thread.

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8356/mshippo3792.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/846/mshippo3792.jpg/)

[Carlota69]

I don't want to hear the labor pains, just show me the baby.

:LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL::LOL:

[Over-Head]

what do lawyers do? ya, they "fight for you..!!"

if the NFL wanted negotiations, they should've hired negotiators. certainly, the NFLPA would have followed that lead just as easily.

They better be carefull , lest one side bring in Jim "the Hammer" Shapiro!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zToHQ8oQvgA

[DeezNutz]

Most lawyers whom I know are so morally depraved and intellectually shallow that they'd cheer for the Cardinals.

[RockChalk]

what do lawyers do? ya, they "fight for you..!!"

if the NFL wanted negotiations, they should've hired negotiators. certainly, the NFLPA would have followed that lead just as easily.

http://splicedwire.com/98reviews/negotiator.jpg

[DJ's left nut]

Most lawyers whom I know are so morally depraved and intellectually shallow that they'd cheer for the Cardinals.

{tips cap}

Nicely done, sir.

[whoman69]

Most lawyers whom I know are so morally depraved and intellectually shallow that they'd cheer for the Cardinals.


Leave Arizona alone. They didn't do anything.

[Mr. Laz]

what do lawyers do? ya, they "fight for you..!!"

if the NFL wanted negotiations, they should've hired negotiators. certainly, the NFLPA would have followed that lead just as easily.
:facepalm:

[ModSocks]

My vagina ain't handicapped, ain't handicapped.

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

AdamSchefterAdam Schefter





Agreed RT @Greg_A_Bedard: 21-28 days RT @SBJLizMullen: "To say going to be done in 2 wks" source said, 'is borderline insane." @adamschefter

2 minutes agoFavoriteRetweetReply

[Mr. Laz]

Joint NFL-NFLPA statement: (http://nfllabor.com/2011/06/15/joint-nfl-nflpa-statement-4/)

“Discussions between NFL owners and players under the auspices of Chief Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan took place again this week and will continue. At the request of Judge Boylan, both sides have agreed to maintain the confidentiality of the substance of the talks.”
NFL attendees at this week’s meetings included: Commissioner Roger Goodell and labor committee members Jerry Richardson (Carolina), Clark Hunt (Kansas City), Robert Kraft (New England), John Mara (New York Giants) and Dean Spanos (San Diego).
Leading the representation of the players were: DeMaurice Smith, Kevin Mawae, Domonique Foxworth, Tony Richardson, Jeff Saturday, and Brian Waters.

[Mr. Laz]

Another reason to be leery about the lawyers

Posted by Mike Florio on June 16, 2011, 12:22 PM EDT
http://nbcprofootballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/battermanmay17getty-e1308240869847.jpg?w=238 Getty Images

As the lawyers have once again been kicked out of the meeting room after nearly undoing the progress that occurred without their involvement, there’s another reason that folks on both sides of the bargaining table should be leery of the true agendas of the men who are providing legal services not as full-time, one-client, Tom Hagan-style employees but as outside contractors with a variety of other clients, who may have sharply contrasting business interests.
It’s a point we first raised back in March 2008 (http://cowboyszone.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-114536.html), after the NFL hired Bob Batterman (pictured) to assist with the ultimately meticulous lockout planning. In the initial report regarding the NFL’s retention of Batterman from SportsBusiness Journal, Liz Mullen and Daniel Kaplan pointed out that Batterman “has been representing the other three major American sports leagues in labor relations for years.”
Here’s what we said in response: “Though the conflict of interest isn’t blatant, the idea that Batterman’s firm is beholden to the NBA, MLB, and NHL raises a red flag in our minds, given that those three leagues are surely hoping that the NFL find a way to shoot itself in the foot.”
The same thinking applies to the players, too, now that NFLPA* outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler is chin deep in the NBA labor dispute (http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/14/nba-owners-players-union-meet-will-do-so-again-friday/).
Major professional sports leagues are in direct competition, at every level and in every way. And it’s not just the leagues that compete. Though pro athletes may be inclined to believe that they belong to a broader fraternity (and, in many ways, they do), every sport — and thus the men who play the games — are vying for dollars and eyeballs. As one sport becomes more popular, it becomes more profitable. And vice-versa.
As a sport becomes more, or less, popular and thus more, or less, profitable, the players in that sport make more, or less, money.
So how can lawyers like Batterman and Kessler properly compartmentalize their duties to their clients when they are representing clients with inherently competing interests? It’s like representing Coke and Pepsi at the same time, or McDonald’s and Burger King. In this context, we realize that the leagues and the players covet the expertise that comes from law firms that have handled sports-related labor disputes. But we’re frankly amazed that the parties aren’t insisting that the lawyers pick only one pro sports horse at a time when every major league sport is facing labor issues.
With the NFL’s owners and players already committed to excluding the lawyers from the process, this subtle yet potentially significant conflict of interest should prompt both sides to conclude that they’re doing the right thing by politely asking the lawyers to get the hell out, and to stay the hell out.