There is a settlement in the NFL concussion litigation, Judge Brody has announced.

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

There is a settlement in the concussion litigation, Judge Brody has announced.

— Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) August 29, 2013

BREAKING NEWS. Settlement in the NFL's concussion case with the 4,500 litigants.

— Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) August 29, 2013

RT @MikeGarafolo: Settlement in the NFL case is for $765 million

— Brian McIntyre (@brian_mcintyre) August 29, 2013

NFL will pay $765 million "to fund medical exams, concussion-related compensation, and a program of medical research'' for 4,500 plaintiffs.

— Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) August 29, 2013

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Because shit happens and they needed to deal with this group of 4,500.

This isn't a grey area - the court has no jurisdiction over non-parties to this suit. As such, any settlement agreement reached to dispose of this suit is not binding on the non-parties. It has no effect as a contract, settlement or otherwise.

If the new group of players that gets together tomorrow either A) wasn't included in the class or B) Elected to opt out of the class, they're more than within their legal rights to sue the NFL again.

And a year later, yet another group can do it.

The NFL can't enter into a prospective settlement agreement with a class of plaintiff's that hasn't even been identified yet. All they can really do is dispose of what's in the past and better prepare themselves for suits in the future.

Does it get harder to certify a class after a suit has been settled?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by vailpass

Does it get harder to certify a class after a suit has been settled?

You mean a later class? No, it shouldn't.

Because the members of that later class were in no way obligated to be a part of the original class. If the courts held that any later classes are subject to a higher burden, they're essentially saying that the members of that class had an obligation to take part in the prior class action.

I guess it's not impossible; judges allow bias to creep in quite often. But really, class certification isn't terribly difficult.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

The payment is spread out over 20 years.

The first three years, each team will owe $3.9 million. From there on out, they'll pay $703k for 17 years.

The NFL got off easy.

Well, that takes it down to about $7 per fan per game for the first 3 years, not including pre/post season games... in completely unrelated news, parking at Arrowhead is now $35.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

You mean a later class? No, it shouldn't.

Because the members of that later class were in no way obligated to be a part of the original class. If the courts held that any later classes are subject to a higher burden, they're essentially saying that the members of that class had an obligation to take part in the prior class action.

I guess it's not impossible; judges allow bias to creep in quite often. But really, class certification isn't terribly difficult.

Thanks.

[Skyy God]

Keith Olbermann rebuts Prisco's ridiculous column.