Conference Realignment

dmurdock

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I read that FSU and ACC have gone into arbitration. I can't imagine that the ACC will negotiate anything short of them meeting the terms of the contract that they willingly signed.
Not arbitration - they have entered into mediation as ordered by the Florida judge. The must negotiate in good faith but are not required to come to a settlement.
 

billga99

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Not arbitration - they have entered into mediation as ordered by the Florida judge. The must negotiate in good faith but are not required to come to a settlement.
This makes far more sense. I would have never thought the ACC would ever take the risk to do Arbitration. Negotiating in good faith to be decided with an FSU alum judge deciding how the sides are negotiating is not exactly objective. But he doesn't have the power to force the ACC to accept a settlement. But I do see this potentially getting ugly if the judge decides the ACC is not negotiating in good faith.
 

iceeater1969

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This makes far more sense. I would have never thought the ACC would ever take the risk to do Arbitration. Negotiating in good faith to be decided with an FSU alum judge deciding how the sides are negotiating is not exactly objective. But he doesn't have the power to force the ACC to accept a settlement. But I do see this potentially getting ugly if the judge decides the ACC is not negotiating in good faith.
In divorce its ugly by defintion.


All Arbitration contract clauses i have seen include a recuirment for mediation - guided that can become binding.
 

RonJohn

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This makes far more sense. I would have never thought the ACC would ever take the risk to do Arbitration. Negotiating in good faith to be decided with an FSU alum judge deciding how the sides are negotiating is not exactly objective. But he doesn't have the power to force the ACC to accept a settlement. But I do see this potentially getting ugly if the judge decides the ACC is not negotiating in good faith.
Not a lawyer and I don't know anything about law in Florida. But, from what I have seen it appears that a lot of courts in a lot of states try to get the parties to resolve issues before the court starts a trial. Small claims court judges will often ask the parties to step in the hallway to see if they can resolve the issue first. Criminal trials in some states have a lot of pre-trial conferences where the judge just checks in on the status and asks if the parties can reach a plea-deal. Courts seem to want to be the last resort, instead of the first entity to try to reach a decision.

I don't think that "negotiating in good faith" would mean engaging in give-and-take. If there is no room for compromise, then there isn't. If someone sues you claiming that they own your house, but they have no evidence and you have a registered deed, there would be no reason for you to offer them a portion or your property or a payout to drop the lawsuit. I don't know, but I would think that to be not "in good faith" you would have to be just stonewalling or something like that.
 

stinger78

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Not arbitration - they have entered into mediation as ordered by the Florida judge. The must negotiate in good faith but are not required to come to a settlement.
Yes, mediation. There’s a difference. That makes more sense to me, but will only work if both are willing to compromise. How do you compromise on a contract with 16 other teams under the same contract sitting there watching?
 

iceeater1969

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Yes, mediation. There’s a difference. That makes more sense to me, but will only work if both are willing to compromise. How do you compromise on a contract with 16 other teams under the same contract sitting there watching?
Mediation is a valid method, if the previous meeting by the mutually trusted person ( like Vespidae) if showing promise (AND NO BURNED BRIDGES) but minor politics or pride are a the remaining hang ups. Having a judge watch can get things going because not giant lawyer fest.

Imo, this will be the giant lawyer fest because too many people have a say on both sides to allow negotiations by indvidual. There will be slkw progress and then it will be settled. We will all be back to being best buddies and $$ are sealed. Play ball.
 

ThatGuy

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Mediation is a valid method, if the previous meeting by the mutually trusted person ( like Vespidae) if showing promise (AND NO BURNED BRIDGES) but minor politics or pride are a the remaining hang ups. Having a judge watch can get things going because not giant lawyer fest.

Imo, this will be the giant lawyer fest because too many people have a say on both sides to allow negotiations by indvidual. There will be slkw progress and then it will be settled. We will all be back to being best buddies and $$ are sealed. Play ball.
I’ll respectfully disagree here. As I said in the Reddit thread linked here, given the current circumstances I don’t think the ACC has any reason to settle. If they in any way back down from the position that the GOR is valid and enforceable, or allow someone to argue their way out of the contract for less stakes than they originally agree to, they’ve set a precedent that’s dangerous for the survival of the conference. The amount of money that will be spent on legal fees to see this through litigation and appeals pales in comparison to the amount of money that’s on the table.

For those reasons, I don’t think the ACC has any incentive to voluntarily settle this lawsuit. They’ve been backed into a corner and are fighting for their lives with this fight. When settling means death, you don’t settle - you keep fighting ‘til the death.

(Of course, this is the ACC we’re talking about here - I’ve scratched my head at some of their actions before, so this event could be no different.)
 

AugustaSwarm

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Agree 100%. This looks like a judge is simply being friendly the FSU attorney. The ACC has ZERO motivation to cave. The fact that the judge has sent it to mediation tells us that the ACC has effectively won the case, otherwise there would have been a clear and direct ruling. The ACC can simply say no to anything less than the stated exit fee and that is likely exactly what they'll likely do.

Of course the FSU legal counsel will hem and haw and say the ACC didn't come to the table "in good faith", which of course, is subjective and there's no way to really prove it one way or the other - which why I say that the ACC has effectively won the case and can't be compelled to concede anything at this point.
 

RonJohn

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Agree 100%. This looks like a judge is simply being friendly the FSU attorney. The ACC has ZERO motivation to cave. The fact that the judge has sent it to mediation tells us that the ACC has effectively won the case, otherwise there would have been a clear and direct ruling. The ACC can simply say no to anything less than the stated exit fee and that is likely exactly what they'll likely do.

Of course the FSU legal counsel will hem and haw and say the ACC didn't come to the table "in good faith", which of course, is subjective and there's no way to really prove it one way or the other - which why I say that the ACC has effectively won the case and can't be compelled to concede anything at this point.
A lot of places require mediation before actually setting trial. Not just on a per case basis, but as a matter of procedure. I don't read anything into it pro-FSU or pro-ACC.
 

RonJohn

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A lot of places require mediation before actually setting trial. Not just on a per case basis, but as a matter of procedure. I don't read anything into it pro-FSU or pro-ACC.
Here is a website for a lawyer in Florida discussion business lawsuit mediation. He says it is mandatory in Florida business lawsuits. It can occur before the lawsuit is filed, but if it does not the court will order mediation before setting trial.

 

Vespid

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I’ll respectfully disagree here. As I said in the Reddit thread linked here, given the current circumstances I don’t think the ACC has any reason to settle. If they in any way back down from the position that the GOR is valid and enforceable, or allow someone to argue their way out of the contract for less stakes than they originally agree to, they’ve set a precedent that’s dangerous for the survival of the conference. The amount of money that will be spent on legal fees to see this through litigation and appeals pales in comparison to the amount of money that’s on the table.

For those reasons, I don’t think the ACC has any incentive to voluntarily settle this lawsuit. They’ve been backed into a corner and are fighting for their lives with this fight. When settling means death, you don’t settle - you keep fighting ‘til the death.

(Of course, this is the ACC we’re talking about here - I’ve scratched my head at some of their actions before, so this event could be no different.)
I think we (ACC) should be open to settling the issue. You (fSu and Clempson) pay us $ 722,500,000.00 each, and that settles it. You are free to leave the minute the check clears...and I don't care if the door hits ya in the a$$ on the way out.
 

iceeater1969

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I think we (ACC) should be open to settling the issue. You (fSu and Clempson) pay us $ 722,500,000.00 each, and that settles it. You are free to leave the minute the check clears...and I don't care if the door hits ya in the a$$ on the way out.
What if we get spanked in court on a legal precedent that their lawyers argue is applicability ?
 

RonJohn

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What if we get spanked in court on a legal precedent that their lawyers argue is applicability ?
While possible, it isn't probable. There have been lawyers pouring over the GOR documents for years. Nobody has found an out yet. Texas has the money to fight it and lose, but they decided to wait until the Big12 GOR expired before moving. (Then after the announcement they negotiated for a one year early release) FSU hasn't presented any legal argument in their lawsuit that would actually make the assignment of copyright invalid. Clemson made a round-about argument about wording that maybe could be decided to make the GOR not apply to former members. However, that argument is similar to the statement -- “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is." --

Also, if the GOR is invalid, then the ACC and Big12 are both at risk. A court deciding that the GOR is invalid would put the ACC at risk. However, settling to make exceptions to the GOR would also put the ACC at risk. I would compare it to a dike. If the dike ruptures, the town will flood. However, if you start poking holes in the dike then you put the dike at further risk of rupturing, which puts the town at risk of flooding. The best course of action is to reinforce the dike and hope that it doesn't rupture. For the ACC, they need to hold hard and fast to the GOR contract and not engage in activities that would lessen it's impact.
 
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