| NFL In Race
Case Said Arbitration Mandatory Then Stay
for Appeal Now Lawyer Called Out
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
June 17 – In the racial
discrimination case against
the National Football League
by Brian Flores and others, on
May 2, 2022 U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge
Valerie E. Caproni held a
hearing. Inner City Press live
tweeted it here
and below.
On July 1 Flores'
lawyers wrote
to Judge Caproni (letter on
Patreon here)
requesting (and attaching)
"appropriate discovery" -
Wigdor's letter to Loretta
Lynch including about Roger
Godell's compensation and
relationships with law firms,
and Lynch's letter of June 27
calling the requests "entirely
outside the scope of
permissible discovery."
But not so fast.
On July 18, Judge Caproni
granted the coaches' request
to put off their deadlines to
answer the NFL's motion to
compel arbitration, pending
her decision on the coaches'
request for discovery. Order
on Patreon here.
The NFL
filed a notice of
interlocutory appeal, and on
August 21 wrote to Judge
Caproni formally raising the
holding in Coinbase v. Bielski
"that a district court must
stay its pre-trial and trial
proceedings while an
interlocutory appeal under 9
USC 16(a) is ongoing."
On August 22
Judge Caproni endorsed the
letter and stayed the case:
"MEMO ENDORSEMENT on re: [114]
Letter filed by The National
Football League, Denver
Broncos, Houston NFL Holdings,
L.P., New York Football
Giants, Inc. ENDORSEMENT:
Application GRANTED. The
August 30, 2023, conference is
CANCELLED, and all deadlines
are STAYED. The Clerk of Court
is respectfully directed to
STAY the case. SO ORDERED.
(Signed by Judge Valerie E.
Caproni on 8/21/2023)."
Jump cut to June
17, 2025 when on Steve Wilks'
lawyer, this: "ORDERED that
Mr. Caspino is ordered to show
cause by July 7, 2025, why the
Court should not refer him to
the disciplinary panel of this
Court to consider whether he
should be sanctioned for his
conduct. As part of that
submission, Mr. Caspino is
required to provide a
certificate of good standing
from each state in which he is
a member of the bar and
explain, under oath: 1) how he
was able to file a Notice of
Appearance in the Southern
District of New York on ECF
despite not being a member of
the bar for the Southern
District of New York; 2) why
his signature block in filings
at docket entries 135 and 136
states "Pro Hac Vice Pending"
despite the fact that Mr.
Caspino never filed a motion
to be admitted Pro Hac Vice in
the Southern District of New
York; 3) why he represented in
the notice of appearance that
he is "admitted or otherwise
authorized to practice in this
court" when it appears that it
not accurate; 4) why as of
June 17, 2025, his website
continues to represent falsely
that he is a member of the
Arizona bar; and 5) unless he
has provided a certificate of
good standing from the bars of
California, Colorado, and
Nevada, why, as of June 17,
2025, his website represents
he is a member of the bars of
those states. If Mr. Caspino
fails to provide at least one
certificate of good standing
from the bar of at least one
state, his submission must
also address why a criminal
referral for the unauthorized
practice of law is not
appropriate. (Signed by Judge
Valerie E. Caproni on
6/17/2025)"
Inner City Press
will continue to cover the
case.
The case is is
Flores, et al. v. The National
Football League, et al.,
22-cv-871 (Caproni)
***
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