O'Bannon lawyers give NCAA $50.2-million revised bill
Legal representation for the Ed O'Bannon plaintiffs will seek $50.2 million in revised legal costs from the NCAA, read a court document filed late Tuesday night.
As CBS Sports' Jon Solomon reported, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled on Aug. 8 that the NCAA's restrictions on what major college football and men's basketball players (represented by the plaintiffs) can receive “unreasonably restrain trade” and violate antitrust laws.
Given October's controversies surrounding Georgia's Todd Gurley and Florida State's Jameis Winston allegedly accepting money for their signatures, the case has far-reaching implications.
The NCAA is choosing to appeal the court's decision, but before that, the O'Bannon legal team “shall recover their costs from the NCAA," according to Wilken.
Initially, wrote Solomon, the O'Bannon lawyers filed a motion in August seeking $52.4 million. More time was needed for the plaintiffs' lawyers to produce accurate numbers for fees and costs, though.
In the revised filing Tuesday, the O'Bannon lawyers said they're owed $44,972,406.95 in attorneys' fees and $5,277,209.29 in recoverable costs and expenses.
Lawyers for the O'Bannon plaintiffs said they slugged through 10 motions to dismiss, 76 depositions, “a slew” of appeal attempts and “numerous pre-trial motions by the NCAA to stave off trial,” as well as the three-week bench trial.
The O'Bannon plaintiffs' lead attorney Michael Hausfeld's firm oversaw 31 law firms in the case. The previous motion for fees and costs in August said Hausfeld's firm oversaw 43 firms. He reported having spent 27,335 hours on the case since 2009 for a value of $15,573,319, an amount adjusted from August's $17,078140 in billing.
The NCAA has until Dec. 23 to file a response.