Judge To Decide Venue For Possible Class Action Concussion Lawsuit Against The NHL

A judge will "decide within a few weeks" on a venue for another lawsuit that alleges NHL execs are "aware of the dangers of head trauma but downplay those risks," according to Rick Westhead of TSN. The league met with lawyers for the players last week in St. Louis to discuss with a judge the "appropriate venue for the litigation," which was filed July 25 in N.Y. The NHL "wants the case to be heard" in N.Y. or DC, while lawyers for some of the players prefer Minnesota, because they think they would "argue their case in front of a more sympathetic jury there." The players' lawyers are "seeking to pursue the case as a class action lawsuit" because there are "more than 100 potential class members." The lawsuit is the "latest of several filed by hundreds of former players against the NHL in recent months," and they may be "combined into one case." The documents "do not say how much money the players are seeking" from the NHL, but outline that the case involves more than US$5M (TSN.ca, 8/3).