Silverman Thompson Wins Historic Preemption Ruling in NHL Concussion Litigation

Today a Federal Judge in Minneapolis issued a significant ruling denying the defendant National Hockey League’s Motion to Dismiss. The NHL argued that the retired player’s claims were barred under labor law by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the league and it’s players. This is believed to be the first time a Federal Judge has ruled on a league wide basis that retired players are not barred from bringing such claims. The NFL chose to settle for a reported $1 billion dollars while a similar motion was still pending in that case.

Silverman Thompson’s Steve Silverman is co-lead counsel for the retired NHL players.