Anita B. Brody
FILE - Former NFL players Ken Jenkins, right, and Clarence Vaughn III, center right, along with their wives, Amy Lewis, center, and Brooke Vaughn, left, carry tens of thousands of petitions demanding equal treatment for everyone involved in the settlement of concussion claims against the NFL, to the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, in this Friday, May 14, 2021, file photo. The NFL on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, pledged to halt the use of “race-norming” — which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive functioning — in the $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims and review past scores for any potential race bias.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
NFL judge: Lawyers for Black players can join mediation

By Maryclaire Dale Jun. 03, 2021 06:09 PM EDT

FILE - This Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007, file photo shows Pittsburgh Steelers' Najeh Davenport in Pittsburgh. The NFL on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, pledged to halt the use of “race-norming” — which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive functioning — in the $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims and review past scores for any potential race bias. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
NFL pledges to halt 'race-norming,' review Black claims

By Maryclaire Dale Jun. 02, 2021 02:23 PM EDT

Former NFL player Clarence Vaughn III, center left, and his wife Brooke Vaughn kiss before delivering tens of thousands of petitions demanding equal treatment for everyone involved in the settlement of concussion claims against the NFL, to the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Retired Black players say NFL brain-injury payouts show bias

By Maryclaire Dale And Michelle R. Smith May. 14, 2021 01:09 PM EDT

FILE - Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najeh Davenport (44) sits on the bench during an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Pittsburgh, in this Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007, file photo. A federal judge on Monday, March 8, 2021, dismissed a lawsuit that challenged “race-norming” in dementia tests for retired NFL players, a practice that some say makes it harder for Black athletes to show injury and qualify for awards. Davenport was denied an award but would have qualified had they been white, according to their lawsuit. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
Lawyers battle over 'race-norming' in NFL dementia tests

By Maryclaire Dale Mar. 22, 2021 01:00 PM EDT

FILE - Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najeh Davenport (44) sits on the bench during an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Pittsburgh, in this Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007, file photo. A federal judge on Monday, March 8, 2021, dismissed a lawsuit that challenged “race-norming” in dementia tests for retired NFL players, a practice that some say makes it harder for Black athletes to show injury and qualify for awards. Davenport was denied an award but would have qualified had they been white, according to their lawsuit. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
Judge tosses suit over 'race-norming' in NFL dementia tests

By Maryclaire Dale Mar. 08, 2021 11:49 AM EST

File-Seattle Seahawks quarterback, Rick Mirer (3) is sacked for a seven-yard-loss by Kevin Henry (76) of the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter of their NFL game in Seattle, Wash., Sunday, Dec. 26, 1993. Dementia tests in the NFL concussion litigation allow doctors to use different baseline standards for Black and white retired players, making it more difficult for Blacks to show injury and qualify for awards, lawyers for two ex-players argued in court filings Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. Lawyers for ex-players Henry and Najeh Davenport said their clients were denied awards “based on a discriminatory testing regime" that weighs sociological factors including race. Both men would have qualified for awards had race not been considered, they said. (AP Photos/Gary Stewart, File)
Lawyers: NFL concussion awards discriminate against Blacks

By Maryclaire Dale Aug. 25, 2020 05:37 PM EDT

FILE - In this July 18, 2014, file photo, lawyer Craig Mitnick speaks as he stands in front of a photograph that lists some of the approximately 1,400 players in NFL concussion litigation he represented, in Haddonfield, N.J. After several years of infighting over $112 million in legal fees in the NFL concussion case, a federal appeals court has approved a plan to give nearly half the money to New York-based Seeger Weiss. The decision Thursday, May 7, 2020, grants New York-based Seeger Weiss firm over $51 million, more than 10 times the amount of any other firm, including the lawyers who filed the first cases in 2012. Mitnick, whose split of the legal fees was left at about $675,000, felt the appeals court did not sufficiently explain its reasoning. Oral arguments in the case were cancelled amid the COVID-19 courthouse shutdown, he said. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
1 law firm gets lion's share of $112M in NFL concussion fees

By Maryclaire Dale May. 08, 2020 03:46 PM EDT

Judge axes 3 of 4 lawyers in NFL concussion case

By Maryclaire Dale May. 24, 2019 04:37 PM EDT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The federal judge overseeing the $1 billion NFL concussion settlement has terminated three of four lawyers serving as class counsel. ...

Judge: Ex-NFL players must see neurologists close to home

By Maryclaire Dale May. 17, 2019 04:36 PM EDT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Retired NFL players seeking testing as part of a $1 billion concussion settlement must see a doctor close to home to prevent fraud and "doctor...

Attorney Gene Locks, who represents many former NFL players, walks from the federal courthouse in Philadelphia after a hearing, Tuesday, May 7, 2019. The NFL concussion fund has paid out $485 million since 2017, but some players lawyers, including Locks, told a federal judge in Philadelphia on Tuesday that there aren't enough doctors in the fund's network to diagnose dementia cases. They oppose a rule to require that players be evaluated by doctors within 150 miles of home to prevent "doctor shopping." (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
NFL concussion fund pays out $485M, but legal fights resume

By Maryclaire Dale May. 07, 2019 01:20 PM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2012, file photo, New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez speaks to reporters at his locker at the NFL football stadium in Foxborough, Mass. A federal judge says the 6-year-old daughter of deceased NFL player Aaron Hernandez missed a 2014 deadline to opt out of the $1 billion concussion settlement and can't separately sue the league over his CTE diagnosis. Yet Hernandez’s death in 2017 came too late for his family to seek compensation for CTE-related suicides under the class action settlement. 
 (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)
Judge: Hernandez's child can't sue NFL over brain disease

By Maryclaire Dale Feb. 15, 2019 01:33 PM EST

NFL drops appeal over dementia claims in concussion case

By Maryclaire Dale Jan. 09, 2019 05:11 PM EST
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NFL abruptly dropped its plan Wednesday to challenge approved dementia diagnoses in a landmark concussion case as players' lawyers accuse it...