Judge Overseeing Dodgers Bankruptcy Case Appoints Mediator In Dispute

Judge Kevin Gross of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, presiding over the ongoing Dodgers case, disclosed yesterday he has appointed retired U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Farnan as a mediator in the dispute. Farnan has actually been working on the dispute between the Dodgers and MLB since July 5, about a week after the club first filed for Chapter 11 protection, with a goal of helping reach a settlement. Farnan's role and involvement had not been disclosed previously. Those settlement talks have not advanced significantly, as the two sides remain squarely at odds and a key evidentiary hearing is set to begin Oct. 31. But Gross said Farnan "has the ideal skills, knowledge, experience and the personality to succeed in assisting the parties."