Minneapolis (AP)-With the lockout at one month and counting, sat lawyers for NFL players to Tuesday, with the federal judge overseeing the court ordered mediation in the league later this week.
Lawyers and Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Or met with U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan for about four hours.
Boylan was "very open" and "was a very constructive meeting," said Michael Hausfeld, lead attorney representing Eller and a group of players withdrew most of its antitrust lawsuit against the owners. Other lawyers have declined comment.
The meeting took place the same day as the NFL has released its 2011 preseason schedule, led by Hall of Fame game between Chicago and St. Louis to Canton, Ohio, Aug. 7.
That game will take place remains an open question. The attorneys will meet with NFL Boylan on Wednesday before the mediation begins on Thursday the first talks since negotiations have failed on March 11, followed hours later by a work stoppage in the NFL since 1987.
Boylan has a reputation as problem solver, but what you can get more than two weeks left mediated talks in Washington last month, remains to be seen. He is a judge since 1996 and chaired a series of mediations, including the $ 195,000,000 settlement between Boston Scientific and about 4000 calls with cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers made by Guidant Corp. in 2007.
It will be at its best in this meeting, because the animosity between the two sides has grown increasingly bitter as the dispute reached the court.
"If the parties prefer to take their shot in the dispute, you can do to stay there forever and will not be another result," said Seth Borden, a labor law expert at McKenna Long & Aldridge in New York.
U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson on Monday ordered mediation. Nelson is still considering an application for an injunction to lift the players' lockout imposed by owners after the players their union dissolved, paving the way for the game right. Players including MVP quarterback Tom Brady (notes) and Peyton Manning (notes) filed the application for injunction in Federal Court here with a class-action antitrust lawsuit against the league.
Elders, including Eller, left his cause, and things are connected.
"What happened today was to mediate the broker to become smarter and attitudes plaintiffs or complainants Brady and understand their overlap, and their positions on various issues," Hausfeld said.
Nelson ordered both sides to keep details confidential mediation, urged both sides to "return to the table." NFL said it wanted to resume talks with federal mediator George Cohen in Washington after 16 days failure of collective bargaining, but the players wanted to hold mediation under the auspices of Nelson.
Nelson's decision as' an injunction could swing the weight in one way or another, so it is unclear how a party is willing to make a serious settlement discussions until its decision.
"Both sides want to go to this (settlement), balancing what they could carry out direct negotiations with the possibility of getting something worse possible if the judge is to decide," said Borden.
