One week after a federal judge refused to grant preliminary approval of the NFL concussion settlement, the lead negotiator for the players is engaged in an increasingly bitter campaign to beat back opposition to the $765 million deal. In conversations and private meetings, Chris Seeger, one of the settlement's main architects, has clashed with his own clients and with attorneys for other players, lobbying for the agreement while lashing out at critics and the media, according to details provided to "Outside the Lines." Legal experts said the growing fissures among former players and lawyers could undermine the settlement after Judge Anita B. Brody's surprise ruling, which requested more information amid concerns there is not enough money to cover all qualifying players. To get the settlement approved, proponents will have to convince Brody not only that it provides enough money but also that thousands of former players have enough in common to be legally considered a "class." Several attorneys involved in the case have argued that they don't. "That's an argument the judge will have to take very seriously," said William Hubbard, a civil litigation expert at the University of Chicago Law School. "Some very famous cases have gone up in flames because of exactly that issue." Source: ESPN
