Comments on: Drafting documents is no replacement for face-to-face meetings

By: Derty Ernie

Derty Ernie — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:29:06 +0000

If the lawyers are drafting language then there must be a tentative agreement in place that no one is mentioning.
Both parties will review the agreements, present there side and if everything is agreed to, its a done deal, class action suit is dropped and the courts are out of it.
I would not be surprised if this was the case. Teams could be in practice mode by next weekend.

By: CKL

CKL — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:25:07 +0000

I doubt it dc…..

…..I have MF pegged for a martini guy.

By: dccowboy

dccowboy — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:00:52 +0000

“Lawyers live for turning the meter on and tinkering with language. They can even do it while sipping poolside margaritas.”

Speaking from personal experience, Mike?

By: jw731

jw731 — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 12:37:23 +0000

You my be the only human alive who could find fault with “sitting by the poolside” drinking margaritas….Did you really expect the parties involved to suddenly care about what any fan thinks?….Have you been paying attention at all?

By: rcali

rcali — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:21:25 +0000

Owners just don’t want to miss those preseason games. Sorry sucker season ticket holders.

By: vetdana

vetdana — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:15:08 +0000

Continued ” Smoke and Mirrors” ! Both sides are not possessed with ANY since of urgency nor are they willing to move very far off of the REVENUE concerns that have derailed this whole labor dispute, from the beginning ! Until they are willing to compromise on revenue…there will be no deal, no CBA and no season ! PERIOD !!! …forget about this working hard to make a deal… nonsense !

By: ralphshere

ralphshere — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:09:57 +0000

It is good that they are working diligently. [not basking in the Holiday weekend]

In negotiations trade-offs occur, especially with the smaller or even ancillary items. So, getting those formatted, i’s dotted…t’s crossed, in advance- fosters an environment wherein the heavy hitters can focus all the more on big picture/crucial items- knowing what trickle down ramifications are involved. Taking care of the small potatoes in advance ought aid streamlining resolution.

Hope both sides are earnestly employed currently and therefore, ever more prepared to hit the ground running in now only 65 hours or so.

By: blantoncollier

blantoncollier — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:07:00 +0000

I realize most people have something better to do than read pft on a holiday weekend. But lets be real, read the post. the lawyers are drafting documents, putting words on paper that the parties have agreed to. If Aiello is telling the truth, thats called real legal progress. Even if the document drafts are about issues they settled weeks ago, even months ago, its putting the agreements in writing.

By: waccoforflacco

waccoforflacco — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 21:31:50 +0000

If they would meet non-stop they would have an agreement TOO EARLY. July 15th isn’t here yet.

By: scytherius

scytherius — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 21:26:39 +0000

Have you people EVER negotiated anything complex? This isn’t just sitting in a room and locking the doors like a teenage lock-in. You just don’t spend lots and lots of time face to face as it is practically too complex to do that.

Some of the comments on this issue show an utter lack of understanding the basics of any of this.

By: ICDogg

ICDogg — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 21:22:17 +0000

Meetings are overrated. Some people like to meet all the time, other people like to get stuff done.

By: ssiebig

ssiebig — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 21:12:32 +0000

Mike, I think you’re way off on this. “Tinkering with language,” as you put it, isn’t a billable hour generating time-waster. Drafting language is an absolutely necessary part — to my mind, *the* most important part — of collective bargaining. And it’s hard work (unless you do a crappy job, as do many collective bargaining professionals).
As a lawyer, you should know more clearly than most that the end product of collective bargaining is a written contract relflecting the parties’ agreement. It’s nice and all if parties agree “in concept” to something. If they can’t reduce that something to writing, with ambiguities resolved and foreseeable consequences addressed, “conceptual agreement” means jack squat.
My experience in collective bargaining has been that people waste way too much time kvetching to each other at the main table and invest way too little time expressing what they want in writing so the other party can evaluate and discuss.
If the parties are at work over the weekend drafting at language, maybe that means they’ve gotten past conceptual discussion on issues and are down to “brass tacks.” Rather than thinking that this is a bad development, as you conclude, this could mean that the parties are actually getting past concept and to substance.

By: gentbaseball12

gentbaseball12 — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 21:07:26 +0000

Mike give it a rest. In order for there to be a CBA, you actually have to draft the damn thing. Not to mention there has to be documents filed in court and a settlement approved since it is a class action lawsuit, not a CBA negotiation. This isn’t like a typical CBA where you can agree in principle and then work out the fine points later.

By: cletusvandam

cletusvandam — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 20:57:44 +0000

These are the same morons who when they finally did start meeting to negotiate a month ago could only be bothered to do so 2 times a week.
It has become abundantly clear that neither side cares about the fans, or is really concerned with getting a deal done anytime soon.

By: 7370355q

7370355q — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 20:50:03 +0000

Boom