Carcillo is one of the plaintiffs currently suing the NHL over concussions and head traumaGETTY IMAGES
The NHL and lawyers representing former players suing the league over its approach to concussions have "proposed to a U.S. federal court that the lawsuits of four yet-to-be-determined former players head to trial in the spring or summer" of '19, according to Rick Westhead of TSN.ca. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Nelson ruled in July that the former players' "head trauma-related lawsuits would not move forward as a class action." Nelson "gave the league and plaintiffs a deadline" of yesterday to "propose a path forward for the 140 concussion lawsuits that have been filed to date." Cases must have "originally been filed in Minnesota to be considered as a bellwether case," or a case intending to try a widely contested issue. Former NHLers whose cases "could be considered for trial in the new year" include Joe Murphy, Reed Larson, Mike Peluso, Daniel Carcillo and Nick Boynton. It is "unlikely" that the case filed by the late Steve Montador's family will be "considered for trial soon because it was filed in Illinois." Attorney Daniel Connolly, who is representing the NHL, proposed that both the league and the plaintiffs be "allowed to strike one of the other side's final three cases, leaving four cases that would head to trial." Connolly then proposed that the judge "should draw names from a hat to determine the order of trial of those remaining four cases." Attorney Jeffrey Klobucar, who is representing the plaintiffs, proposed that the "initial trial pool should be decided" by Oct. 19 and that after the "final four cases are decided for trial, discovery would take place over a period of 150 days" (TSN.ca, 9/26).
