The Cowboys yesterday asked a Dallas federal court to reconsider and force a lawyer representing ticket holders suing the NFL over Super Bowl XLV's temporary seating fiasco to pay the full amount of costs incurred by the team in meeting discovery requests. The court ruled last month the eight ticket holders were personally responsible for $25,025. The Cowboys, who are not a defendant in the lawsuit, claimed $196,584.44. However, the Cowboys argue the plaintiffs' attorney, Michael Avenatti, should pay because he refused to limit the scope of what the club said was overly broad discovery requests. The Cowboys in court documents said, “Mr. Avenatti should not now be allowed to hide behind his clients in an attempt to avoid paying the expense borne of his unreasonable recalcitrance.” The court reasoned last month that the Cowboys had originally estimated the discovery cost would be $75,000, so the plaintiffs should pay around one third of that. The Cowboys in their motion yesterday counter they should not be punished for an early estimate, and in any event, Avenatti should have to pay the full amount whether of the conservative estimate or the full bill. Avenatti said, "Evidently, $25,000 isn't enough for Jerry to hire a real GM and end the Cowboy's slide from 1995." Last month he told Pro Football Talk that the court order for $25,025 against his clients was a big victory for them.
