The NCAA has requested a delay in the federal antitrust case filed against the organization by attorney Jeffrey Kessler until well into 2019, according to the legal news service Law 360.
Bonnie Eslinger of Law 360 reported the NCAA asked for the postponement of the trial, originally scheduled for December, until June 2019, because of scheduling conflicts affecting its lead attorney, Beth A. Wilkinson of Wilkinson Walsh & Eskovitz of Washington, D.C., "who has long been slated to try this case on the NCAA’s behalf.”
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What is widely known in the college athletics world as the “Kessler case” began in 2014, when lead plaintiff Martin Jenkins — a former Clemson cornerback from 2010-14 — and other athletes challenged the NCAA rule prohibiting universities from paying athletes more than grant-in-aid (tuition, room and board, books and fees). NCAA members subsequently introduced cost-of-attendance payments for athletes in Division I sports.
Part of the Kessler case was settled in February 2017 when the NCAA agreed to pay $208.7 million to a class of athletes who were involved in NCAA competition between 2009-16 and did not receive cost of attendance payments.
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At the time of the partial settlement, however, the NCAA announced it “will continue to vigorously oppose the remaining portion of the lawsuit seeking pay for play. Plaintiffs’ lawyers want to dismantle college sports, which has provided billions of dollars in scholarships and the opportunity for millions across 24 sports to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees.”
The players’ attorneys said they would oppose the request for a delay. Steven Berman, a member of that legal team, told Law 360 the request to accommodate Wilkinson’s schedule was “incredibly egotistical and outrageous.”
