US media reports late last night suggested that the National Football League players’ union was considering legal action over the health and safety issues that replacement referees were creating on the field. The officials had already caused outrage following a number of botched decisions, most recently in Monday’s game between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks, reports the Am Law Daily.

Men in stripes

The new eight-year deal over employment conditions will immediately put regular officials back into the game, starting with tonight’s clash between the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens.
New York-based Proskauer Rose partner Robert Batterman represented the league in its talks with the Referees Association, along with NFL general counsel Jeffrey Pash and in-house counsel David Gardi. The referees turned to named partner Michael Arnold of Kansas City-based firm Arnold Newbold Winter & Jackson.
One of the regular referees, Edward Hochuli, is a lawyer at Phoenix-based litigation specialists Jones Skelton & Hochuli. He declined to comment on the possibility of future legal action, citing his concern at ‘hindering the progress’.