Schultz' Suit Remains Lone Legal Recourse To Bring Sonics Back
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Schultz' Lawsuit Remains Seattle's Lone
Legal Recourse For Bringing Back Sonics |
Starbucks Chair & CEO Howard Schultz' lawsuit, in which he seeks to rescind the '06 sale of the Sonics from his Basketball Club of Seattle (BCOS) ownership group to Sonics Owner Clay Bennett, is the "lone legal weapon left that could bring the former Sonics club back to Seattle," according to Greg Johns of the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER. Schultz' attorney Richard Yarmuth: "This case is based on substantial evidence. There is sufficient evidence to prove that these Oklahoma businessmen fraudulently induced the sale of the Sonics to them." Since Schultz "didn't attempt the difficult procedure of filing for an injunction that would have blocked the team's immediate move to Oklahoma City," he now hopes to "push for a trial next spring and attempt to get the team back to Seattle after it plays an initial season at the Ford Center." U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman, who presided over the Sonics-Seattle trial over the team's KeyArena lease, will oversee the Schultz case, and the two sides "have a date this Friday for their first conference and a July 25 deadline to file their joint status report." Pechman then will set a date for the nonjury trial, "likely some time next year." New York Law School professor of sports law Marc Edelman said that he "doesn't believe there has been a single case where a team was ordered to reverse course after being allowed to play games in a new city at any level of professional sports." Johns notes Pechman would have to "weigh the impact of employees who'd relocated, tickets and sponsorships already being sold in the new market and a fresh lease and broadcast contract signed in the new community." Seattle attorney Randy Aliment "expressed concern that Schultz's suit might jeopardize the city's chances of getting a replacement team through the NBA," a point that Sonics attorney Brad Keller "floated shortly after Wednesday's settlement" in the Sonics-Seattle case. Yarmuth: "We were asked to participate in the city settlement, but we chose not to do so because we feel the BCOS lawsuit is Seattle's best chance of having an NBA team playing in Seattle in the future. We didn't feel the assurances by the NBA were sufficient for us to abandon our separate lawsuit." Johns notes a class-action claim by several Sonics fans "still must play out in King County [WA] District Court as well, though that suit seeks financial damages instead of challenging the franchise's move" (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 7/8).
IN THE DARK: In Oklahoma City, Randy Ellis notes the Sonics-Seattle case was settled Wednesday, the day Pechman's decision was to be announced. A law clerk for the judge yesterday said Pechman is "not going to reveal how she would have ruled" (DAILY OKLAHOMAN, 7/8).
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