As trials with probably important implications go, this one moved rapidly. It culminates on Wednesday.
Solely three weeks after the jury was chosen, the jury will get its likelihood to rule on the case.
Through Joe Reedy of the Related Press, the ultimate day of courtroom proceedings begins at 9:00 a.m. PT, with the studying of jury directions.
Roughly 90 minutes later, the plaintiffs’ attorneys will ship the primary a part of their closing argument, with 70 minutes allotted. The NFL’s attorneys will get their remaining say to the jury after the lunch break, with one other 70 minutes. The plaintiffs’ attorneys will then have 20 minutes to rebut the NFL, with the jury thereafter getting the case.
Even when the jury guidelines for the plaintiffs, the decide might nonetheless enter judgment however the decision to the NFL. As Reedy factors out, the presiding decide on Tuesday denied the plaintiffs’ request for judgment as a matter of regulation. Nevertheless, he didn’t rule on the NFL’s request. He’ll achieve this after the decision.
He might have denied the NFL’s movement, permitting a recent movement to be made after the decision is returned. The truth that he has tabled the difficulty could possibly be an indication that he’s planning to enter judgment for the NFL, if the jury doesn’t discover for the league.
Thus, even when the jury returns with a verdict for the plaintiffs — and even when the quantity is the sort of factor that generates front-page headlines from coast to coast — the decide can nonetheless say, “Sorry, plaintiffs, you didn’t show your case.”
For now, the subsequent step includes teeing up the jury to deliberate. After the jury finishes its work, the decide might nonetheless make fast work of the complete case and rule for the NFL.
Billions probably hold within the steadiness, relying on whether or not the jury is persuaded by the proof of monetary losses that the plaintiffs offered. It’s potential that, just like the USFL vs. NFL trial from 38 years in the past, the plaintiffs will win however the damages might be minimal. (The USFL gained all of 1 greenback, which was tripled to 3 {dollars} by the federal antitrust legal guidelines.)
Nevertheless it performs out, the NFL hardly ever finds itself on this posture. Even with a win, the league may have to rethink the pricing necessities it locations on the Sunday Ticket package deal with a purpose to forestall a future antitrust case arguing that the league improperly requires Sunday Ticket to be overpriced as an all-or-nothing product with a purpose to defend the printed networks that televise video games in native associates throughout the nation.
If, because the decide instructed final week, the plaintiff’s attorneys grossly overcomplicated the case, a recent set of plaintiffs and a brand new group of attorneys might use the potential misadventures from the present case because the blueprint for the subsequent one.
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