Anita B. Brody
File-Seattle Seahawks quarterback, Rick Mirer (3) is sacked for a seven-yard-loss by Kevin Henry (76) of the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter of their NFL game in Seattle, Wash., Sunday, Dec. 26, 1993. Dementia tests in the NFL concussion litigation allow doctors to use different baseline standards for Black and white retired players, making it more difficult for Blacks to show injury and qualify for awards, lawyers for two ex-players argued in court filings Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. Lawyers for ex-players Henry and Najeh Davenport said their clients were denied awards “based on a discriminatory testing regime" that weighs sociological factors including race. Both men would have qualified for awards had race not been considered, they said. (AP Photos/Gary Stewart, File)
Lawyers: NFL concussion awards discriminate against Blacks

By Maryclaire Dale Aug. 25, 2020 05:37 PM EDT

FILE - In this July 18, 2014, file photo, lawyer Craig Mitnick speaks as he stands in front of a photograph that lists some of the approximately 1,400 players in NFL concussion litigation he represented, in Haddonfield, N.J. After several years of infighting over $112 million in legal fees in the NFL concussion case, a federal appeals court has approved a plan to give nearly half the money to New York-based Seeger Weiss. The decision Thursday, May 7, 2020, grants New York-based Seeger Weiss firm over $51 million, more than 10 times the amount of any other firm, including the lawyers who filed the first cases in 2012. Mitnick, whose split of the legal fees was left at about $675,000, felt the appeals court did not sufficiently explain its reasoning. Oral arguments in the case were cancelled amid the COVID-19 courthouse shutdown, he said. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
1 law firm gets lion's share of $112M in NFL concussion fees

By Maryclaire Dale May. 08, 2020 03:46 PM EDT

Judge axes 3 of 4 lawyers in NFL concussion case

By Maryclaire Dale May. 24, 2019 04:37 PM EDT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The federal judge overseeing the $1 billion NFL concussion settlement has terminated three of four lawyers serving as class counsel. ...

Judge: Ex-NFL players must see neurologists close to home

By Maryclaire Dale May. 17, 2019 04:36 PM EDT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Retired NFL players seeking testing as part of a $1 billion concussion settlement must see a doctor close to home to prevent fraud and "doctor...

Attorney Gene Locks, who represents many former NFL players, walks from the federal courthouse in Philadelphia after a hearing, Tuesday, May 7, 2019. The NFL concussion fund has paid out $485 million since 2017, but some players lawyers, including Locks, told a federal judge in Philadelphia on Tuesday that there aren't enough doctors in the fund's network to diagnose dementia cases. They oppose a rule to require that players be evaluated by doctors within 150 miles of home to prevent "doctor shopping." (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
NFL concussion fund pays out $485M, but legal fights resume

By Maryclaire Dale May. 07, 2019 01:20 PM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2012, file photo, New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez speaks to reporters at his locker at the NFL football stadium in Foxborough, Mass. A federal judge says the 6-year-old daughter of deceased NFL player Aaron Hernandez missed a 2014 deadline to opt out of the $1 billion concussion settlement and can't separately sue the league over his CTE diagnosis. Yet Hernandez’s death in 2017 came too late for his family to seek compensation for CTE-related suicides under the class action settlement. 
 (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)
Judge: Hernandez's child can't sue NFL over brain disease

By Maryclaire Dale Feb. 15, 2019 01:33 PM EST

NFL drops appeal over dementia claims in concussion case

By Maryclaire Dale Jan. 09, 2019 05:11 PM EST
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NFL abruptly dropped its plan Wednesday to challenge approved dementia diagnoses in a landmark concussion case as players' lawyers accuse it...