Despite a judge’s ruling in April that discovery would commence in the case between the NFL and its insurers over covering the class action concussion settlement, the earliest it might start is now after a newly scheduled Sept. 29 hearing. New York state Supreme Court Judge Jeffrey Oing ruled April 29 over strenuous NFL objections that discovery should start in the four-year-old case, and he at the time gave the sides two weeks to arrive at schedule for doing so. Both sides have submitted schedules, sources said. But the NFL filed a stay motion on June 1, and Oing yesterday scheduled the late September hearing to hear arguments on the NFL motion. That effectively means no discovery can take place, if at all, until the resolution of that hearing, a source said. The insurers are trying to avoid covering the up to $1B settlement, arguing the NFL knew about the risk of playing football. The league wants to stay the case until the settlement is final, and the remaining cases brought by individual players are completed. That could take years. At the April 29 hearing, Oing told the parties, “I can’t stop this anymore.” However, by not ruling to approve the discovery schedules, he effectively has. The Sept. 29 date may be pushed into October because of a scheduling conflict with one of the attorneys, a source said.
