Why Wasn’t the TRO Granted?
Amazing game yesterday, but the reasoning for the non-decision on Michigan’s and Harbaugh’s temporary restraining order (TRO) didn’t get much discussion.
Every insider and their mother and many MoGoLawyer types were certain it would be issued before the game. But it obviously wasn’t.
What does this mean? Does it suggest the case for the TRO wasn’t compelling enough to get the judge to act immediately? Was the judge just asleep? Why is it being deferred a whole week? Seems to defeat the point of a TRO.
November 12th, 2023 at 7:47 AM ^
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxAXuitQdCE35BXUe_6FmfdDxQcOuE_1GZ?feature=shared
November 12th, 2023 at 7:48 AM ^
She/they didn't have sufficient time to render a "fair" ruling.
November 12th, 2023 at 7:53 AM ^
OK. I’ll accept that. Not going to suggest the Judge was snowed by the media frenzy.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:47 AM ^
Who/what court even has jurisdiction on this? If any does. Is there some specialized court that handles NCAA matters? Considering the timing the B1G used I can't imagine there's some court and judge somewhere that is just sitting there waiting in the wings for some ruling on a situation that's never happened.
November 12th, 2023 at 6:09 PM ^
Court's rule on factual situations that have "never happened" before every day.
November 12th, 2023 at 7:51 AM ^
TRO is ex parte, meaning the other side has no input.
The BT lawyer filed an appearance before Saturday morning.
The court set it for hearing this Friday, which indicates it wants to hear
from both sides before issuing any order.
November 12th, 2023 at 7:55 AM ^
Sounds like what happened given no denial was issued publicly. It is unfortunate but what is new for UM. B1G stick it to us three times in that sequence. They didn't back off. They issued three game suspension late Friday on a Federal holiday and possibly contested our TRO.
Culprit is B1G. We should not be in this conference.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:20 AM ^
A local Ann Arbor attorney (David Nacht) filed a motion on behalf the Big Ten sometime between the university filing for the TRO and kickoff. Prevented the judge from granting the TRO immediately and forced a hearing for next week.
Maybe not the wisest of choices from a PR standpoint.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:28 AM ^
What's his problem?
November 12th, 2023 at 8:36 AM ^
Money. They paid him to file on their behalf.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:44 AM ^
That made me laugh….but If money is your goal it might be a bit short sighted.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:14 AM ^
Not if you’re a lawyer and that’s what you do for a living.
November 12th, 2023 at 10:15 AM ^
If you alienate the majority of your customer base?
November 12th, 2023 at 1:01 PM ^
But if your fucking name is David Nacht, you might nacht do a lot more business in Ann Arbor.
November 12th, 2023 at 6:12 PM ^
He'll be fine. The MoGoBoard is hardly representative of the vast majority of Ann Arborites.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:00 AM ^
Damn mercenary
November 12th, 2023 at 9:17 AM ^
He’s just local counsel. Meaning Sidley Austin is doing everything and he’s just advising on local practice and procedure and then physically filing. I don’t think Washtenaw is an e-filing court still. So it’s not a billing bonanza where he’s making a ton of money. Seems bad from a PR perspective. His partner is counterpunt, a former poster on here, and even said yesterday he was annoyed lol
November 12th, 2023 at 9:30 AM ^
I bet if the situation was reversed and it was OSU being targeted by the BIG, they’d have a very hard time finding a Columbus attorney to advocate against OSU’s interests.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:52 AM ^
Yeah, they would... The local cops would be all over that guy for every little infraction. Speeding? Lets give you a drunk test and a ride... Need to file with the court clerk in a hurry? Hold up, you've been selected for a random search before entering the courthouse... Wash, rinse, repeat...
November 12th, 2023 at 8:29 AM ^
Probably a buckeye grad...
Fuck, a U of M law school grad. Traitor!
November 12th, 2023 at 8:56 AM ^
“A local Ann Arbor attorney (David Nacht) filed a motion on behalf the Big Ten”
How do you know this?
November 12th, 2023 at 9:16 AM ^
Listed on the court form.
Also confirmed by his law partner (our own Nick Roumel from Punt-CounterPunt - who was unaware until after the fact) in another thread yesterday.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:21 AM ^
Lol that’s not what that says at all. Those are all Michigan and Harbaugh’s filings. Also his partner didn’t say that unless I missed it.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:43 AM ^
Ok that’s the same exact comment I saw and the only one. No where does he say that a motion was filed blocking the judge from hearing the TRO. You need to stop spreading misinformation and opining on things you don’t know about.
November 12th, 2023 at 10:12 AM ^
I didn't say the motion blocked the judge - their actions prevented ex-parte action by the judge though.
November 12th, 2023 at 10:39 AM ^
Can you read your own words?
A local Ann Arbor attorney (David Nacht) filed a motion on behalf the Big Ten sometime between the university filing for the TRO and kickoff. Prevented the judge from granting the TRO immediately and forced a hearing for next week.
That's exactly what you said -- a motion was filed on behalf of the Big Ten that blocked the judge from taking action. But no motion was filed. The docket only reflects that Michigan and Harbaugh filed their own complaint, motion, and brief in support and Nick/Counterpunt did not say a motion had been filed. The only thing Nacht filed was an appearance, which basically is the equivalent of "Hi, Court Clerk and Judge, my name is David Nacht and I'm representing the Big Ten in this case. Please formally enter my appearance on the docket."
Again, if you don't know what you're talking about, stop opining and spreading rumors.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:32 AM ^
“Also confirmed by his law partner (our own Nick Roumel”
If I was in Nick’s shoes, I’d already be looking for a new partner.
November 12th, 2023 at 1:24 PM ^
The new firm name is Judas, Benedict and Arnold
November 12th, 2023 at 8:55 PM ^
Brutus must be the junior partner.
November 12th, 2023 at 10:30 AM ^
Quite interesting. I’ve dealt w him before. If this is their guy we will be fine. Lol.
November 12th, 2023 at 11:02 AM ^
TBH, he's a UM Law grad who appears to have represented Steve Shields (the apparent good guy) in the recent Umich hockey abuse matter that resulted in some substantial housecleaning. That said, it's strange for a guy who usually fights for employee rights to be on the side of the (even) bigger institution. Maybe he's just used to seeing the University across the table and doesn't mind upsetting them. Still, if this is true, I'm not buying the guy a beer anytime soon.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:00 AM ^
Generally everyone should want a decision maker to have all the facts and argument before deciding (are you listening Tony Pettiti?), but in this case the time crunch was caused by Pettiti’s sleazy decision to wait until the 11th hour when courts were closed and the team was in the air before handing down the suspension. The timing should have been held against the Big Ten and made it more likely for the court to enter a TRO. Unfortunately the court went the opposite direction and effectively held the Big Ten’s gamesmanship against Michigan & Harbaugh.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:29 AM ^
Judge could have issued a 48 hour stay on the suspension and cite the timing of the decision from the Big Ten. Having an opportunity to hear all the facts makes perfect sense, allowing the Big Ten to use the timing and a federal holiday to paint Michigan in the corner, seems to encourage bad faith actions by one party.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:37 AM ^
Earlier in the week Wednesday,UM asked for another day to prepare their response. Otherwise the Big10 would have announced on Thursday.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:38 AM ^
This may be true (and I have no reason to believe it is not) but it would be hard to persuade me or really any attorney that the timing of the release late Friday after Michigan was already in the air to go play was due to a delay in Michigan's response. Almost everything in law, especially civil practice, is gamesmanship.
Same reason they let ESPN know before they let Michigan know. Trying to win the PR battle.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:45 AM ^
Well-stated, but it doesn't answer the real question. A TRO application is just that, regardless of any appearance filed. It's ex parte, and the appearance should be irrelevant to the decision.
I feel like your last sentence nails it, but if so, the Court did not do what is legally prescribed of it—make a decision.
This smells like some backdoor procedural agreement between and among the Court and the advocates.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:59 AM ^
Come on MGOlawyers. You could have told us Friday night the B1G lawyers could file for an appearance and fuck it up for Saturday.
Seems obvious if that’s a choice they have, they would do that.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:34 AM ^
I am not sure how things work in Washtenaw Circuit Court or in front of this judge in particular. But the other side appearing should not have prevented the court from issuing a TRO.
TRO motions can be contested and in my experience quite often are contested. The way the procedure usually works, the party seeking the TRO has to notify the opposing side of their intent to do so and give the other party a chance to show up in court to oppose it. If they don't show up, often the judge will try to call them (i.e., by phone) from the bench before deciding on the motion.
It's true the procedure is "ex parte," meaning the court can issue the order after hearing from only one side. But judges don't like doing that. If the other side appears, then the court can hear from both sides before deciding whether to grant the TRO. As a practical matter, this can mean that the other side appearing can actually increase the likelihood of getting the order--even if the other side hasn't had much or any time to prepare, they were at least present and the judge will be more comfortable issuing the order with them having had an opportunity to respond. If the other side does not appear, then often the judge will sort of argue the opposing party's side and will often feel like maybe there is something he or she is missing.
November 12th, 2023 at 7:53 AM ^
Because you can't set the precedent that Michigan Football is worth jumping the line and getting an emergency injunction when no one's safety or life is endangered...but then deny the next request that comes across your desk.
We don't like it, but they did the right thing.
Now is it an open and shut decision? Yes. I expect Michigan will win Friday and Harbaugh will be coaching.
But Michigan should have to wait just like you or I would.
Also let's them hear from the B1G.
I think they did the right thing, but their job isn't done yet. On Friday, fuck the political pressure and the notoriety...in no way, shape, or form is what the B1G is doing acceptable, you have to grant the injunction.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:01 AM ^
disagree to the extent you are implying that only life-endangering things get TRO's (and that might not be what you meant). what we commonly call PPO's, personal protection orders, of course get priority but tons of business and family law things get TRO's as well, preventing trade secrets from being spread, stopping competing employment by a former employee, freezing of funds are all common examples.
what you have are hundreds of pages filed by us, an appearance filed by the B10 and you'll likely get other named defendants weighing in as well. there will be a deluge of paperwork this week from the various parties and, candidly, i do NOT expect a decision on friday given the enormity of the task. could happen, but doubt it and wouldn't be surprised if nothing happens until next week - meaning JH misses the maryland game, too.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:35 AM ^
My guess is, contra to many cases, the Judge is not waiting until the day before the hearing to review the pleadings and they are being read and analyzed by the law clerk and the judge will be keeping up to speed as pleadings are filed. I expect a ruling Friday, which could include a stay, or no stay, pending an evidentiary hearing if there are contrary facts in the pleadings.
Which I expect will be the case; i. e., the BT will have affidavits that contradict something in the Plaintiffs' affidavits, so the court may want testimony to sort that out.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:39 AM ^
yep. could very well be the case and of course we all hope it is. evelyn wood speed reading is the court's friend.
November 12th, 2023 at 1:12 PM ^
If Harbaugh is not there for the Maryland game, no big deal. I could coach the team to a win against Maryland. “Go get ‘em boys! Do what you do!”. Wouldn’t even need a headset.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:11 AM ^
I am not a lawyer, but I would imagine that any entity at risk of losing millions of dollars and public defamation due to an unfair and/or highly controversial action by a separate entity that is highly time sensitive would be given consideration for a TRO. UM wasn’t asking for favoritism.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:19 AM ^
People keep talking about the money, but those 18-20 year old kids had to go out there and listen to the chants of "cheaters" over and over.
Moore's pst-game interview also showed the emotional/mental strain it put on the other coaches.
For a society that claims to care about mental health, this was a complete failure by the (so-called) justice system.
November 12th, 2023 at 8:32 AM ^
The shouts of “cheater” at the game have nothing to do with the TRO.
November 12th, 2023 at 9:00 AM ^
I got news for you.
They’re going to hear that in every game but the one last game at home for the rest of the season, TRO or no TRO.
<insert “are we the baddies” gif>