NEW ORLEANS — An attorney and Saints season ticket holder who is leading an effort to sue the NFL over the controversial no-call in last season’s NFC championship game says the Louisiana State Supreme Court could weigh in on at least some elements of the lawsuit as early as today, August 9.
Tony LeMon says that he wants NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to answer questions in court about the no-call. LeMon also wants some of the referees who participated in the game to be deposed. He also filed paperwork to have the league provide any materials it has on the no-call and its aftermath.
LeMon says the NFL needs to answer for the egregious error which deprived fans of a fair outcome.
Currently, the NFL has a deadline for Tuesday, August 13, to provide at least some of the materials requested.
LeMon is not the only local attorney to bring a lawsuit against the NFL regarding the no-call. The NFL is challenging all of the lawsuits. LeMon’s is the only one still standing.
Thursday, attorneys for the league filed paperwork before the state supreme court to derail the Tuesday deadline. LeMon says that the paperwork was improperly filed and he submitted his own documents to keep the deadline on schedule. LeMon said that justices could rule on the latest legal maneuvers today.
The lawsuit has already passed a series of legal hurdles at the trial court level and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
LeMon says that while the NFL’s lawyers may be familiar with the civil codes in other states, they have been unable to stop the lawsuit under the Napoleonic Code in Louisiana, a set of laws that are unique to the state.
“This lawsuit is crafted to keep this matter in state court so that only Louisiana law controls the outcome. It would likely not survive in any other state,” LeMon said in a previous written statement regarding the lawsuit.
Initially, LeMon also filed paperwork to obtain any materials that the Saints possess regarding the NFC championship game and the no-call. But this morning, he said that he doesn’t want the lawsuit against the NFL to become a burden for the team, so he is dropping all requests that the Saints provide any material. For the record, LeMon is only suing the NFL. He says his request to obtain material from the Saints was only to intended to bolster the case against the league.