Horizon League has filed a lawsuit against Valpo & Missouri Valley Conference

[bbtds]

I'm surprised this is still pending. You'd think there would have been a resolution to it by now.

The courts move almost as slow as our divided congress and senate. It does seem better decisions are made when time is put between the occurrence and the court's pronouncement. 

[valpo64]

Is there any new info on where the law suit regarding  VU and the Horizon League?     All this time and no news on the progress of the proceedings?

[elephtheria47]

Cant even find a case regarding the horizon league and valparaiso university cases seem to be with individuals. Anyone know anything about the case? Case number, official party names, etc?

[VU2014]

Cant even find a case regarding the horizon league and valparaiso university cases seem to be with individuals. Anyone know anything about the case? Case number, official party names, etc?

It seems that both sides are pretty dug into their trenches. The HL probably slowed everything down when they filed the suit in evansville because they didn't want the case to go to trial in Porter County. eventually it did get switched to Porter and we haven't heard much since. I thought I remembered someone mentioning that the University was going to sue the HL for a unpaid deposit the HL owed us. When Valparaiso University joined the conference we had a separate membership agreement from the rest of our peers. I seem to remember hearing that the Horizon League could actually owe us money, sort of like getting your safety deposit back at the end of your lease. I could be misremembering but VU had a very strong case for breach of contract.

[vu72]

I spoke to Mark LaBarbera about this and the news is that there is no news.  Nothing happening at the present.

[4throwfan]

Speaking as someone with absolutely no knowledge of the case, but as an attorney who has tried commercial disputes like this one, I will add a couple of cents.

This case is a year old.  I would not expect the case to be resolved within that time, but I'm also surprised that there is not much news.  If the Horizon League thought that it was owed some money then it seems that it would be pushing the action a little bit more.  Also, it seems that Valpo does NOT think that the relevant contract documents are in its favor on their face.  Otherwise, it would have filed a motion to dismiss by now.  (Maybe it did, but lost.)  Again, I have no knowledge, but I'm a little surprised at the inactivity.

Like elephtheria47, I looked at the on-line court docket, and could not find the case.  If I could read the docket, I could offer more.  I don't practice in Indiana, so I'm a little bit shorthanded.

[elephtheria47]

Valpo filed a motion to dismiss and Judge Bradford denied it on July 12, 2018. The case is now set for mediation.

[4throwfan]

It is possible that the two parties agreed to mediation after the loss on the motion to dismiss.  In other words, one party says to the other: "okay, now that we know that we will have to go to trial, let's not waste a bunch of money on discovery, but rather let's try to settle."  For bodies in the public eye, it's probably smart because they avoid a potential loss in court which would be public information.  On the other hand, if they settle in mediation, they can keep the outcome private.  No public embarrassments.

If that's the case, then it'll probably settle in the mediation, which means that the lawsuit could be done by Halloween, or Thanksgiving at the latest.  If the mediation is forced on them due to a contract clause (very unlikely) or a court rule (unlikely), then it likely won't settle.

A person can probably roughly estimate the outcome of the settlement.  I don't remember the dollars involved, but if you take the net owed, and then bracket somewhere in the middle, then that will give a rough idea.  For example, if the HL is asking for $800,000, and VU is asking for $300,000, then a reasonable estimate could be that VU ends up paying $100K-$300K.  Doesn't always go that way, but no one should be disappointed if that's the range.  We'll likely never know the result since the settlement will likely be confidential.

[VU2014]

Valpo filed a motion to dismiss and Judge Bradford denied it on July 12, 2018. The case is now set for mediation.

Judge Bradford earned his J.D. from the VU Law School. I doubt it will hold any sway, but either way it's nice to hear.

[elephtheria47]

If he can't make a fair and impartial decision then he has to recuse himself from the case, and that's exactly what Judge Clymer did who the case was initially assigned to in Porter County (and who also taught at the law school).

Theres already a lot of sealed documents. I'm thinking we will never know the settlement as 4throwfan alluded to.

I wouldn't expect this to drag out too much longer (in court time, couple of months in real time). As was mentioned, this is where things can start getting expensive if you want to keep pursuing your belief. Unless theres an axe to grind, itll get settled in mediation. A defendant (Missouri valley) is out and the motion to dismiss was denied. Time to hammer it out.

[VU2014]

If he can't make a fair and impartial decision then he has to recuse himself from the case, and that's exactly what Judge Clymer did who the case was initially assigned to in Porter County (and who also taught at the law school).

Theres already a lot of sealed documents. I'm thinking we will never know the settlement as 4throwfan alluded to.

I wouldn't expect this to drag out too much longer (in court time, couple of months in real time). As was mentioned, this is where things can start getting expensive if you want to keep pursuing your belief. Unless theres an axe to grind, itll get settled in mediation. A defendant (Missouri valley) is out and the motion to dismiss was denied. Time to hammer it out.

I have a friend who went to VU Law School and works in the area. I asked him what he thought of Judge Bradford and he said he's a straight shooter. VU won't get any special treatment even if he's an alumnus. As for axe to grind, who knows what's in Lecrone's mind. It was pretty petty to attach the MVC to the lawsuit.

[VUGrad1314]

I don't doubt for an instant that LeCrone may have an axe to grind. If Valpo's argument in this case is even remotely credible then saying that the HL handled VU's exit poorly is charitable. Time to broker some sort of settlement agreement and let both parties go their separate ways in peace.

[vufan75]

Sounds like the HL lawsuit against Valpo and resulting countersuit by Valpo has ended. A draw. Nobody wins damages and each party pays its own legal costs. The details are reported at end of the article link.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-spt-mens-basketball-valparaiso-notes-donovan-clay-st-0205-story,amp.html?__twitter_impression=true



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[valpolaw]

The case settled with valpo paying the horizon league something according to the article. That's why it was dismissed. We will probably never know what valpo paid unless someone has someone in the know. I assume there was a confidentiality agreement.

[JD24]

The case settled with valpo paying the horizon league something according to the article. That's why it was dismissed. We will probably never know what valpo paid unless someone has someone in the know. I assume there was a confidentiality agreement.

The article says both sides pay for their own court costs. Is there something else Valpo is paying in that article that I'm not seeing?

[VUBBFan]

The case settled with valpo paying the horizon league something according to the article. That's why it was dismissed. We will probably never know what valpo paid unless someone has someone in the know. I assume there was a confidentiality agreement.

The article says both sides pay for their own court costs. Is there something else Valpo is paying in that article that I'm not seeing?

I believe we are reading into the statement about a settlement being made and thinking it means some sort of payment. IMO not necessarily so.


"Valparaiso University is pleased that it reached a settlement with the Horizon League," Niemi said.

[EddieCabot]

The case settled with valpo paying the horizon league something according to the article. That's why it was dismissed. We will probably never know what valpo paid unless someone has someone in the know. I assume there was a confidentiality agreement.

The article says both sides pay for their own court costs. Is there something else Valpo is paying in that article that I'm not seeing?

I believe we are reading into the statement about a settlement being made and thinking it means some sort of payment. IMO not necessarily so.
"Valparaiso University is pleased that it reached a settlement with the Horizon League," Niemi said.

In my experience, the term "settlement" is typically used when payment of some sort is made.  If no payments are made, the term "dismissal" is more commonly used.  However, I doubt we'll ever know the outcome as the settlement likely includes a confidentiality agreement and the university made it clear they would have no further comments.

[VALPO LI]

I am sure glad that this and the Horizon league are behind us now.

[valpolaw]

To me, "settlement" means one side paid the other something to settle the case. They wouldn't go to mediation and settle for nothing essentially. If I had to take a guess, I'd say valpo paid a much smaller amount to get it over with. Maybe a cost of defense plus a small fee to the horizon league. It's often cheaper to settle than continue litigating. That's all a guess though and I'm sure there's a confidentiality clause so we will likely never know.

[EddieCabot]

I am sure glad that this and the Horizon league are behind us now.

With the settlement behind us, maybe we'll see some Horizon teams on the non-conference schedule going forward.  Before people laugh, the upper half of the Horizon would be a significant upgrade to the non-DI and 300+ KenPom teams that Valpo played this year.  In particular, I think WSU and NKU should be teams Valpo calls immediately.

[bigmosmithfan1]

With the settlement behind us, maybe we'll see some Horizon teams on the non-conference schedule going forward.  Before people laugh, the upper half of the Horizon would be a significant upgrade to the non-DI and 300+ KenPom teams that Valpo played this year.  In particular, I think WSU and NKU should be teams Valpo calls immediately.

I think that depends entirely on which schools were pushing the lawsuit. I'm pretty sure VU knows which schools they are and those won't be on the schedule anytime soon. And if it was a unanimous decision among HL schools to sue us, then I still say screw them.

[Valpo89]

Teams I'd like to see VU try to play: Oakland, UIC, Green Bay, Milwaukee and Wright State.
No excuse not to get those guys on a home and home (not in the same season). 2 or 3 schools per season. Or 4. Two home, two away each year.

[elephtheria47]

Theres no use of the word settlement in the court papers. It was dismissed with prejudice (cant be filed again) and each side had to pay their own attorney fees. While it's likely there was a settlement of some sort, not a necessity. Whatever happened in mediation wont ever see the light of day. Regardless, the Horizon League era is now completely in the rear view mirror. Cheers.

[zvillehaze]

I think that depends entirely on which schools were pushing the lawsuit. I'm pretty sure VU knows which schools they are and those won't be on the schedule anytime soon. And if it was a unanimous decision among HL schools to sue us, then I still say screw them.

I totally agree with this take ... why do a favor for a Horizon League school who was in favor of suing you??

If you recall, the Horizon also took a shot at Butler on their way out of the league, voting to make them ineligible for league championships in '12-'13 and resulting in them leaving a year early.  https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/butler-joining-a-10-this-fall-instead-of-2013/

Butler knows which schools initiated and voted in favor of that move and I doubt that Butler MBB will be playing those schools (voluntarily, at least) for a long time, if ever.  I'm totally in favor of that decision.

[bigmosmithfan1]

If you recall, the Horizon also took a shot at Butler on their way out of the league, voting to make them ineligible for league championships in '12-'13 and resulting in them leaving a year early.  https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/butler-joining-a-10-this-fall-instead-of-2013/

That's the Butler version of the story. The actual story was that the HL wanted simply make them ineligible to *host* any league championships in their lame-duck year, which is a much more modest and some would say fair request. But Butler wasn't going to countenance having to give up playing at Hinkle, so they left.