NHL concussion lawsuit reaches tentative settlement for $19 million

[sureLoss]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeoza.../#18fc9cf11749

The class action lawsuit filed by former NHL players in 2016 is on the verge of being settled for $18.9 million. The amount that would go to the players would total $6.9 million, or just $22,000 per player, according to an email and documents obtained by Forbes.

In short, the case is about former NHL players who say they suffered concussions during their playing days, whether the league and its teams did enough to ensure player safety at the time, and what sort of responsibility (if any) the league should have to those players today.

A law firm representing the retired players is recommending its clients accept the offer by the NHL. The email reads "

[TheoFleury]

Wow, the NHL got off easy

[Cali Panthers Fan]

That's a pretty poor settlement for the players, but it's probably going to be difficult to prove culpability in a courtroom.

NHL is happy because they don't have to admit guilt and that's a pretty light fine when you consider the income of the entire league. I wonder if owners will be asked to share the cost.

[Sutter_in_law]

Geez, I didn’t expect this to be settled for under $100M

[Fuzz]

So who gets the other $12 million? Lawyers? If so, no wonder they recommend accepting it.

[Fuzz]

Monetary Settlement Benefits:

$6,996,000 aggregate in payments for all settling clients ($22,000/each; no lawyer fees or costs will be deducted from these payments)

$552,000 aggregate in supplementary payments for those clients who submitted Plaintiff Fact Sheets or claimant-specific interrogatory responses ($4,000/each)

$60,000 aggregate in Settling Plaintiff Service Awards ($10,000/each)

$1,100,000 aggregate for Additional Payment Fund (for qualifying Testing Participants, maximum of $75,000 per such qualifying participant; any surplusage goes to the Common Good Fund; if a shortfall, draw money up from Common Good Fund)

$2,514,000 aggregate for Common Good Fund (for health and welfare of retired players, and to backstop the Additional Payment Fund)

$750,000 aggregate for Administrative Expenses (Claims Administrator, Lien Administrator, Judge Keyes; any surplusage to Common Good Fund; any shortfall made up from Common Good Fund)

$6,950,000 aggregate for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs (no additional fees or costs permissible under individual client retainer agreements)

$18,922,000 Total Monetary Benefits (all of the above elements)

Ah, so lawyers get $6.9 million, and the rest is in other funds?



I'm not sure I'd accept $22k. Seems really low.

[Flashpoint]

Wow. So basically nothing.

That’s abysmal.

[GioforPM]

ETA, never mind - answered above.

[Samuelsson]

Comical. The NHL must be laughing themselves to the bank. I assume this lawsuit will nullify any future claims made by anyone else concussion-related, in the near future at the very least?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Samuelsson

Comical. The NHL must be laughing themselves to the bank. I assume this lawsuit will nullify any future claims made by anyone else concussion-related, in the near future at the very least?

Probably only ones that occurred within the timeframe of the lawsuit.

Ones that happen after that, especially after the suit, might score bigger if the NHL is shown not to have been responsive enough.

[Red_Baron]

The lawyers benefitted as much as the players, what a joke-but I guess that is normal these days, ugh.



And as for the settlement amount, it is less than the average one game salary for a current NHL player.

[Resolute 14]

Officially announced today:

https://www.tsn.ca/tentative-settlem...suit-1.1208437

Honestly, if this gets approved, it's nothing short of a total win for the league. Failing to get class action status absolutely crushed the players' and lawyers' chances at an NFL-sized payout.

[rb_chimp]

$19 mil each? The NHL is very generous! oh.. wait...

[Jacks]

Lawyers negotiate a garbage settlement and get paid as much as the players?


$22000 isn't going to help someone like Joe Murphy get off the street, not that any amount would really help him at this point.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Lawyers negotiate a garbage settlement and get paid as much as the players?


$22000 isn't going to help someone like Joe Murphy get off the street, not that any amount would really help him at this point.

Or lawyers spent thousands of hours to extract 19 million that wasn’t there before. There job was to extract as much money as they could for the plaintiffs it wasn’t about providing enough money to help the players through their medical needs or fixing people whose lives were destroyed.

[speede5]

Pretty standard for lawyers to get 33.3% in these types of claims.

Not sure why all the hate as that would have been agreed to before they even filed.