Happy 2016 everyone! After a couple of slow holiday weeks, sports law is heating back up.

Derrick Rose Back in Court in Civil Sexual Assault Case

After some delay due to Plaintiff’s inability to serve all of the Defendants, the Rose case is back in California federal court on Monday (1/4). The Judge will be hearing arguments on Rose’s accuser’s request to: (1) amender her complaint and (2) remand the case back to state court.

These two motions go hand in hand. If certain requirements are met, Defendants that do not reside in the state where the lawsuit was filed are allowed to “remove” a lawsuit and move it from state court to federal court. There are many reasons a civil defendant may want to remove a case including different jury pools, the perception of more sophisticated federal judges, and potentially favorable federal procedural rules that will govern the lawsuit.

Back in September, Rose’s attorneys did just that and removed this lawsuit to federal court. In order for Rose’s accuser to have the lawsuit sent back to state court, she must show that there is no geographical diversity of defendants. If she can prove that any one defendant resides in California, the suit will be sent back to state court.

Thus, she is now attempted to expand her lawsuit and add her former roommate – who resides in California – as a new defendant. The key issue at the hearing will be whether the judge believes that the roommate was added as a proper defendant, or whether this was an improper lawyer ploy used only to get the case back to state court.

Interested in more background about the case? Back when the case was filed, I answered key questions about the lawsuit for Bleacher Report. Also, find a copy of the lawsuit here.

MLB Hall of Fame Announced

On Thursday, Major League Baseball will announce the 2016 hall of fame class. Here is the entire ballot. Ken Griffey Jr. and Trevor Hoffman headline a group of 14 newcomers to the ballot.

The most interesting storyline (again) is whether the alleged PED players (Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa) will gain more votes this year. A player needs 75% of the vote to be inducted to the hall and Bonds (36.8%), McGwire (10.0%), Sosa (6.6%) did not come close to that number last year.

In case you missed it, Pete Rose will not be getting in.