The Judge's Ruling

[KB21]

http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/ajc/pdf/sports/12hawksorder.pdf

Is it me, or did this judge do his damndest to try and discredit Stern's decision on the issue?

[Nicholasp27]

yeah, i just read the whole thing

he didn't like stern's affidavit

[KB21]

If I didn't know better, I would think that this judge is taking a "how dare you question my ruling" attitude on this issue.

Belkin and Gestell must be butt buddies.

[Sage11]

Yes he did. He went out of his way to say that he was not ruling on the "other owners" behalf yet he had to admit that his ruling was moot because "major" circumstances forced him to nullify it.

[AHF]

This judge has a huge ego. That was a very unusual order in being so very condescending. I hope the Hawks don't end up in front of this a-hole in the future.

[Inside_Man]

The scumbag Judge gives Belkin an out.

The Commish says that Belkin not approving the trade is a 'removable action.' The judge says Belkin has to be given 5 days to rescind the removable action.

Here's what I think this means.

If Belkin now approves the trade - then they can't remove him as governor.

Note - I am not a lawyer. I only pretend to be one on Hawksquawk.

[Plainview1981]

Judges suck.

[Plainview1981]

However, since it will always got by the majority

I suspect that Belkin will want out. I'm sure he

realizes that he will not get what he truly wants

so hopefully he will move on. I think by accepting

the trade now it makes him look like a bigger loser

than he ever did before.

[AHF]

Quote:

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The scumbag Judge gives Belkin an out.

The Commish says that Belkin not approving the trade is a 'removable action.' The judge says Belkin has to be given 5 days to rescind the removable action.

Here's what I think this means.

If Belkin now approves the trade - then they can't remove him as governor.

Note - I am not a lawyer. I only pretend to be one on Hawksquawk.

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I am a lawyer. I read the opinion to say that Belkin has to be given 5 days written notice to rescind the action. What he says he doesn't know is whether that has already been given. (Hopefully!)

The upside is that if Belkin wants to keep his job as governor he needs to bend over and do whatever the majority wants or he is going to be f#*$&d. That is what we call a figurehead!

I do think the judge was really hometowning for his guy - not as much in his legal analysis which I think was sound but in the way he phrased his opinion and the condescending attitude he took toward Stern and the rest of the Hawks ownership team. Moreover, his thoughts on sports in general are just him blowing his own horn. He admitted he has no basis to render an opinion based on his sports judgment. That said, his contract interpretation was solid as far as I can tell - the problem is the document not the judge with that.

[yardbird]

I just read the judge's opinion, and while he does take issue with Stern's affidavit tone, the opinion is well reasoned based on the LLC agreement and NBA Undertaking language noted in the opinion. Difficult to imagine that the NBA lawyers didn't bring the language regarding Belkin's initial term as governor to Stern's attention before the affidavit, but maybe Stern thought it'd skate by the court. Since they negotiated it, I'm sure ATL/WAS knew about this and have factored it into their plans . . . and yes, unless there is other language, it does appear that Belkin can survive by rescinding his trade block within 5 days.

We may get JJ, but it seems to me that Atlanta Spirit decision making will be hamstrung for the forseeable absent a Belkin buyout. Unless there's something elsewhere in the agreements, every transaction requiring governor sign-off can be blocked, requiring 5 days notice followed by recission and Belkin's survival.

If attorneys out there see something different, I'd love to be corrected.

Sucks.

[yardbird]

I agree with you. See my other post.

[WraithSentinel]

Basically what I understand is this. If Belkin ever decide to go against the majority again his ass is gone. Another words Belkin is nothing more then bitch who holds the Gov. He must do as the BK and Majority of Owners tell him or he is gone.

[Diesel]

The judge is full of it.

He starts off by saying that he did not try to judge the merits of the deal?

BS.

However, then EGO Kicks in.

I think he was insulted at Stern's affadavit and wanted to prove that he was the champion of Law and that he had the last word. It jumps off the paper worst than if somebody gets flamed on Hawksqawk and come back using Caps...

His Judgement is silly. He again tries to redefine what a removable offense is... However, the truth of the matter is that Stern correctly defined it. I guess the way we will work is Belkin will maintain his position and every time he does something contrary to the other's position, they put it in writing and he has 5 days to go with the flow?

It's a leash for our wayward governor. Maybe that Leash is strong enough to make him want to leave!

[Diesel]

I think Belkin keeps his position..

However, I think he can go against the other owners again..

The Real question is can he get another injunction?

If so, this can be a problem.

We already have the go ahead from the Commish to remove Belkin... BUT according to the rules in the contract by the A.S. LLC, Belkin can't be removed unless he commits a removeable offense.

Hell, I think that means he has a 5 day period where he can hold up progress before being removed... Unless he can get another injunction.

[Guest Walter]

Quote:

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I think Belkin keeps his position..

However, I think he can go against the other owners again..

The Real question is can he get another injunction?

If so, this can be a problem.

We already have the go ahead from the Commish to remove Belkin... BUT according to the rules in the contract by the A.S. LLC, Belkin can't be removed unless he commits a removeable offense.

Hell, I think that means he has a 5 day period where he can hold up progress before being removed... Unless he can get another injunction.

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I think Belkin is just the type to stay in for spite and gum up the works as you describe here.

W

[Diesel]

Yeah but the reason why it's puppet governor is because there's no power in his position. In this case, Majority will always rule and I doubt that there's anything that he can do to prevent the majority from having it's way. Fortunately, this debacle has shown the league that we do have one disgruntled owner that will object to us spending money, but won't leave.

BUT.... It also shows that we have 8 owners who are on the same page and who wants to bring in a winner. I have my doubts as to weather this will last until 3-21-2009. But if it does, Belkin becomes that guy who sits on the board who objects to everything that the board passes with a majority vote just because he wants to get his point recognized. His objection is moot.. therefore, he's powerless to stop progress.

The other thing is that I don't think Stern will allow for this to go on too much longer, especially if every move that the franchise tries the make, Belkin embarrasses the league by trying to hold it up for 5 days.... Or at least, i don't think that we will ever have press releases about acquisitions until they have passed the Atlanta Hawks 5 day waiting period.

[Nurlman]

Quote:

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The judge is full of it.

He starts off by saying that he did not try to judge the merits of the deal?

BS.

However, then EGO Kicks in.

I think he was insulted at Stern's affadavit and wanted to prove that he was the champion of Law and that he had the last word.

His Judgement is silly. He again tries to redefine what a removable offense is... However, the truth of the matter is that Stern correctly defined it. I guess the way we will work is Belkin will maintain his position and every time he does something contrary to the other's position, they put it in writing and he has 5 days to go with the flow?

It's a leash for our wayward governor. Maybe that Leash is strong enough to make him want to leave!

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Just so, Diesel (never thought I'd say that).

The tone of the entire opinion is defensive and, well, arrogant. He absolutely granted the temporary injunction based on the basketball decision, not the legal one.

Then Stern didn't directly admonish him in the affadavit, but his issue spotting and reasoning were clear and I think the judge became aware that his own were lacking.

I don't find his opinion particularly well-reasoned nor well-written, but he reached the right result and I don't think a reviewing judge would overturn it.

As for the 5-day notification clause, due process is important, but 5 days for something the Governor knows is contrary to the wishes of the Board of Managers is a little long. 3 days would be plenty, but they'd have to modify the LLC Operating Agreement in order to do that.

There's really no way around some sort of notice requirement, and I would not try to start the clock before today. I would send Belkin official notification today and start the watch, then remove him 5 days on.

Why take the chance that Belkin's attorney later says he wasn't given adequate notice? JJ and Tellum have waited this long, and the only possible outcomes now are 1)removal of Belkin and consummation of the deal or 2)Belkin approves the deal. Either one is fine.

[Nurlman]

Quote:

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Quote:

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I think Belkin keeps his position..

However, I think he can go against the other owners again..

The Real question is can he get another injunction?

If so, this can be a problem.

We already have the go ahead from the Commish to remove Belkin... BUT according to the rules in the contract by the A.S. LLC, Belkin can't be removed unless he commits a removeable offense.

Hell, I think that means he has a 5 day period where he can hold up progress before being removed... Unless he can get another injunction.

I think Belkin is just the type to stay in for spite and gum up the works as you describe here.

W

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[/indent]

No. He can't get another injunction on these grounds. Unless there's been a material change in circumstances, the judge has ruled on this issue. The courts don't want parties coming back and relitigating the same issues over and over. You can see the public policy issue behind that one, but it's also analogous to double jeopardy in a criminal case (can't be tried twice).

His attorneys, in addition to showing irreparable harm and likelihood of success on the merits (of the legal case, not this or another deal), would first need to demonstrate some material change of circumstance before they could even get to the argument on an injunction.

Until Belkin commits a removable offense, is notified of such by the BOM and 5 days elapse without Belkin curing the removable offense, he can remain as Governor. In my judgement, that is the right result.

It's not a perfect solution, but Levenson has told us they're buying him out, and this'll do until Belkin is gone for good.

[yardbird]

Agree, but this does increase Belkin's leverage for a higher buyout price since he can repeat the 5 day loop on each removable offense, the five business day notice period won't kickoff until Monday, and the LLC agreement likely can't be changed without Belkin's sign-off unless there is some majority or super majority override provision (which might trigger a forced buyout at a predetermined valuation method).

[Nurlman]

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Agree, but this does increase Belkin's leverage for a higher buyout price since he can repeat the 5 day loop on each removable offense, the five business day notice period won't kickoff until Monday, and the LLC agreement likely can't be changed without Belkin's sign-off unless there is some majority or super majority override provision (which might trigger a forced buyout at a predetermined valuation method).

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It makes it harder to do business, but the club will do 5-10 offseason transactions per year, and those would be slowed - not denied.

If I were playing this hand, I'd tell him - you know what, Steve-O - you do what you need to do, we're not paying you a nickel more than 6% (?) on your money. You can stay on as long as you want - worst case scenario, you sit on every move for 5 days for 4 more years.

His impact will be limited to being an [censored]. And I would think being an [censored] for kicks would get tiresome, even for an [censored] like Belkin.