Biglaw

Dallas Cowboys Fans See Judicial Conspiracy In Elliott Ruling

They've kind of got a point, too.

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Dallas Cowboys fans are pretty sure the world is always out to get “America’s Team.” How is a fanbase simultaneously convinced that most of the country loves them and that everyone’s a hater? I’m not sure, but it probably has to do with the Electoral College. In any event, with the team’s star running back’s 6-game suspension back on, they’ve discovered a new conspiracy theory to kvetch about in their tin-foil Tom Landry hats: the judge was compromised by the NFL league office!

As the theory goes, Judge Katherine Polk Failla is married to one John E. Failla, a partner at Proskauer, the very firm that represented the NFL in negotiating the collective bargaining agreement whose terms gave the commissioner the broad disciplinary powers that are now dropping like a hammer on Zeke Elliott’s bare midriff. The fix has been in from the beginning!

Welcome to the Judiciary-Biglaw complex. These are the sorts of coincidences that start to pile up when you practice within the Southern District of New York for awhile. Proskauer’s Failla is an insurance lawyer, making it fairly unlikely he has much to do with lobbying his wife to protect Roger Goodell’s honor. Still, given the relatively paltry salaries of federal judges, the lion’s share of the Failla household income is coming from a firm deeply intertwined with this CBA. It’s a conflict that probably deserved flagging, if not recusal, just to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and oh my God I’m finding agreement with Cowboys fans.

But the denizens of Baja Oklahoma shouldn’t get too cocky over this. Even if Failla departs the case, the fact that the CBA continues to afford Goodell nearly godlike powers means Zeke would just lose in front of another judge. It doesn’t really matter who pulls the trigger on this suspension — the NFLPA already loaded the gun when it signed on to this monstrosity.

If it’s any consolation, the Cowboys were going to go 2-4 over this stretch with or without Elliott.

Earlier: NFLPA Continues To Ignore The Awful CBA It Agreed To

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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