LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11 CA-Susman-Godfrey
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, August 5, 2008, the
United States District Court approved a settlement resolving White v. National
Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA"), a class action case filed in Los
Angeles by Division I football and men's basketball players against the NCAA
charging that the NCAA unreasonably restricted the amount of athletics-based
financial aid which colleges and universities could pay to student-athletes.
The settlement approved by the Court provides valuable new benefits for class
members. Specifically, the settlement enhances the financial aid potentially
available to former, current and future student-athletes in a variety of ways,
including:
(a) The NCAA's agreement to provide, for the academic years 2007-08
through 2012-13, an additional $218 million to NCAA Division I member
institutions to allow under the current guidelines for the Student
Athlete Opportunity Fund, with the NCAA encouraging the Division I
member institutions to use the available funds for such aid to
student-athletes with demonstrated financial needs.
(b) The NCAA's agreement to provide, over a three-year period, a total of
$10 million to be distributed to qualifying former student-athletes
for reimbursement of certain educational expenses incurred in the
future. Individual class members are eligible to receive up to $2500
per year for three years for educational expenses incurred in
connection with accredited undergraduate, graduate, professional
degree or professional certificate programs, and a one-time payment of
$500 toward career development programs. Beginning August 11, 2008,
class members may access claim forms for the Former Student-Athlete
Fund at the following URL on the NCAA website:
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=29642
(c) The NCAA's adoption of a rule permitting Division I schools to provide
year-round, comprehensive health insurance to student-athletes.
(d) The NCAA's agreement to investigate the possibility of offering
student-athletes multiyear scholarships and aid through graduation.
(e) The making of arrangements under which the NCAA's Division I member
schools can provide basic accident insurance for injuries sustained by
student-athletes while participating in college athletics.
Counsel for plaintiffs in the lawsuit were Marc M. Seltzer, Stephen E.
Morrissey, Steven G. Sklaver, Tibor L. Nagy, and Amy Brantly of Susman
Godfrey, L.L.P. and Maxwell M. Blecher and Courtney A. Palko of Blecher &
Collins, P.C. Plaintiffs' counsel also thank and acknowledge the many other
people who helped make this result possible, including class representatives
Jason White, Brian Polak, Jovan Harris, and Chris Craig; former UCLA
student-athlete Ramogi Huma, who served as a consultant to plaintiffs and
founded the National College Players Association in an effort to obtain
reforms such as those sought by this lawsuit; testifying economists Roger Noll
of Stanford University, Janet Netz of ApplEcon, LLC, and Robert McCormick of
Clemson University; and consulting economists Ernie Nadel of LECG, LLC, Andy
Schwarz of OSKR, LLC, and Daniel Rascher of the University of San Francisco,
who provided valuable assistance to plaintiffs' counsel in helping to
initiate, investigate, develop, and prosecute the case.
For information contact:
Mr. Stephen E. Morrissey
Susman Godfrey LLP
1901 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 950
Los Angeles, CA 90067-6029
(310) 789-3103
smorrissey@susmangodfrey.com
About Susman Godfrey L.L.P.
Susman Godfrey L.L.P., a law firm with more than 80 lawyers, was recently
named one of the top litigation boutiques in the country by The American
Lawyer. The firm represents plaintiffs and defendants in a broad range of
commercial litigation matters, including antitrust, patent and intellectual
property, securities and corporate governance litigation, energy, commercial
and products liability, bankruptcy and financial restructuring, accounting
malpractice, arbitration, climate change, and international litigation. The
firm has offices in Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York. For
additional information, visit http://www.susmangodfrey.com.
SOURCE Susman Godfrey, L.L.P.
