Class Action Lawsuit Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Class Action Lawsuit - Research Paper Example 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. 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