Justice races at the old ballgame

The Washington Nationals hold the Presidents Race in the middle of the fourth inning, between giant heads of the four presidents on Mount Rushmore. One running story had been Teddy Roosevelt's losing streak, which finally ended last season.

The Nats today introduced a fifth president for the races--William Howard Taft. As explained here, Taft's size (i.e., girth) and facial hair could make him a fan favorite (although the photos show he is not that much larger than the other president heads. There also is the potential for a fun rivalry, given the political rift between Roosevelt and Taft.

More importantly, every race now can be part of an off-shoot event--Justice Races. No matter how Taft does against the other presidents, he always will be the fastest justice.

Allen Houston wins defamation lawsuit with help from Sports Law Blog's Alan Milstein

Kudos to Cynthia Arato and our own Alan Milstein, who has authored some of the best posts on our blog. Cynthia and Alan successfully represented the New York Knicks and the team's assistant general manager and former NBA all-star Allen Houston in a $7.5 million slander and interference case.

The lawsuit was brought by Arthur Rondeau, a basketball coach who previously worked with noted motivational speaker Anthony Robbins.  Rondeau claimed he was instrumental in helping Houston become a better NBA player and that Houston promised him help landing a coaching job with the Knicks or another NBA team. In a recent bench-decision, New York state judge Charles Ramos rejected as too vague Rondeau's assertion that Houston interfered with Rondeau's coaching aspirations or reneged on an actionable contract. The judge also did not find support for Rondeau's contention that Houston slandered him by allegedly telling others in the NBA that Rondeau was black mailing him. Additional details of the decision can be found in this Law360 article (subscription only).