Earlier this year, a federal judge vacated NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus’ $516,415 NFLPA arbitration award against his former client, Washington Redskins wide receiver
DeSean Jackson.
Now Rosenhaus, who represents more than 100 NFL players, is at the same courthouse, asking a judge to confirm another NFLPA arbitration award against a different client, free agent linebacker Ashlee Palmer.
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Palmer
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Rosenhaus filed suit earlier this month against Palmer in federal court in Los Angeles, asking for an order confirming an $86,000 NFLPA arbitration award. Arbitrator
Roger Kaplan ruled in March that Palmer owes Rosenhaus $60,000 in unpaid contract adviser fees and $26,000 in unpaid loans.
Rosenhaus is asking that the award be turned into a judgment against Palmer. The case has been assigned to John Kronstadt, a U.S. District Court judge for the Central District of California.
In February, Michael Fitzgerald, a U.S. District Judge in the Central District of California, vacated Kaplan’s previous award against Jackson on the grounds that Jackson should have been told that Kaplan had previously worked for and been paid by Rosenhaus to arbitrate a dispute involving one of his former employees. Kaplan was paid $140,000 to arbitrate that dispute between Rosenhaus and Danny Martoe, who was named president of CSE Talent last month.
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Rosenhaus contends that DeSean Jackson still owes him $516,415.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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“Kaplan received additional income from Rosenhaus in a manner that was highly unusual and Kaplan was on notice of — but failed to disclose or at least further investigate — facts reasonably giving the impression that Kaplan might be partial to Rosenhaus in the present and future arbitrations,” Fitzgerald wrote in his Feb. 26 decision.
About a month later, Kaplan held an another arbitration hearing and found Palmer owes Rosenhaus $86,000.
Palmer did not respond to messages seeking comment. He hasn’t played in the league since 2014, and never severed his relationship with Rosenhaus, who is still officially his agent. Palmer signed a standard representation agreement with Rosenhaus on March 8, 2011, and never terminated it, according to the lawsuit filed by Rosenhaus.
Rosenhaus is continuing to pursue the $516,415 he contends that Jackson owes him. After Fitzgerald vacated Kaplan’s award, the NFLPA assigned another arbitrator, James Conway, to rehear the dispute.
Conway held a two-day hearing in Washington D.C. in September, said Steve Feldman, one of Jackson’s attorneys.
“We are contending that DeSean Jackson owes Rosenhaus nothing,” Feldman said.
A decision is expected any time in the next several weeks, Feldman said.
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Liz Mullen can be reached at lmullen@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
