Judge Schedules Deadlines in Paterno-NCAA Lawsuit

It’s been difficult to guess when the lawsuit between the estate of former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno and the National Collegiate Athletic Association might end.

But now that the judge hearing the contentious litigation has set a series of deadlines both sides need to meet, the end of the lawsuit may be in sight. The suit, ongoing since 2013, looks like it will wrap up sometime after next August, concluding what will be over three years of back-and-forth legal maneuvering.

But before that happens, the Paterno estate and the NCAA still have a number of steps to take.

First, both sides of the lawsuit need to finish up the discovery process, which has been a source of contention as both sides have disputed what documents they need to turn over to other side. Specially presiding Potter County Judge John Leete wants the Paterno estate to finish up exchanging information with the NCAA by February 29, 2016.

Three days later, Judge Leete wants to see filings from NCAA President Mark Emmert and NCAA Executive Committee Chairman Ed Ray to back up their objections to the lawsuit. Responses to these briefs must be filed by both sides by the end of April 2016.

By the end of May, both sides are required to submit disclosures about any expert witnesses they intended to call on at trial. From there, another round of legal filings is expected to conclude by August 19, 2016, making it just a matter of time before the suit is either settled or heads to trial.

The Paterno estate, alongside former Penn State assistant football coaches Jay Paterno and William Kenney, are suing the NCAA for allegedly overstepping its authority in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. They claim that defamatory statements and actions from the NCAA decreased the value of the Paterno estate and made it more difficult for Kenney and Paterno to find work.

The two sides of the lawsuit recently went head-to-head in court, taking a step forward that mostly ended in Paterno’s and Kenney’s favor.