Live updates: Florida State vs. ACC lawsuit hearing in

UPDATE (1:53 p.m.): The judge has called for both sides to meet for mediation within 120 days. He’s a fan of mediation and wants it done earlier rather than later in cases.

“I send every case to mediation except mortgage foreclosures,” the judge, John C. Cooper said. “This is not being done any differently.”

UPDATE (1:37 p.m.): After a 24-minute break for the judge to review a case, the Florida State-ACC hearing is back in session.

The judge, John C. Cooper, is ruling for the ACC’s motion to dismiss while letting FSU amend its complaint.

“The case is not over,” Cooper said. “The case will continue.”

UPDATE (1:13 p.m.): The court is in recess again as the judge reviews a recent case that will help him rule on the jurisdiction matter. The judge, John C. Cooper, has suggested that Florida State might have to amend its complaint again because it did not include some important facts.

UPDATE (1:08 p.m.): Judge John C. Cooper has denied the ACC’s motion to dismiss Florida State’s lawsuit based on its ripeness. Other rulings are upcoming.

UPDATE (12:56 p.m.): The Tallahassee judge seems perturbed about Florida State’s arguments about jurisdiction (where the case should be heard). Specifically, the arguments are more complicated than they probably need to be.

“I have to connect a lot of disparate dots,” the judge, John C. Cooper, said.

This all stems from the conference’s motion to dismiss FSU’s Leon County suit. It could matter if the judge determines FSU did not properly plead its case on why Tallahassee is an appropriate venue for the case.

UPDATE (12:40 p.m.): Today’s hearing has resumed after a 69-minute recess for lunch. FSU’s counsel is up first going over some of its specific points on the conference’s status in Florida. This relates to the court’s jurisdiction (or lack thereof).

UPDATE (11:31 a.m.): The Florida State v. ACC hearing is on an hour-long lunch break.

UPDATE (11:27 a.m.): We’re still in the weeds of where the ACC gets money. That led to this great question from the Tallahassee judge: “Let’s say FSU plays…what’s the team that has the blue artificial turf?”

Shout out to Boise State. The question is who would receive the TV money from a game at Boise State. FSU had a series scheduled with the Broncos a few years ago.

UPDATE (11:13 a.m.): The discussion is very technical into whether FSU has shown that this court in Leon County has personal jurisdiction in this case against the ACC. The conference’s counsel is arguing that FSU didn’t show it properly, and the judge has cited some cases involving a dog show and professional golf (separate cases).

The judge is pushing back, suggesting that the ACC does business in Florida by, for instance, making money from TV broadcasts of games in the state.

UPDATE (10:56 a.m.): After a 15-minute recess, the court is back in session. The ACC’s counsel will be presenting more arguments on why the conference thinks FSU’s lawsuit should be dismissed.

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UPDATE (10:39 a.m.): FSU’s counsel says he’s confident the conference and Seminoles could negotiate a settlement on the $130 million exit fee in “fairly short order.” But that part leaves out the dispute over the grant of rights and who holds the rights (and TV money) for FSU home games from 2024-36.

UPDATE (10:34 a.m.): The hearing is getting into the legal nitty gritty of who owns the rights to FSU’s home football games if the Seminoles leave the conference. The ACC argues that the conference holds those rights. FSU is hoping they do not. Could the conference sell those rights to ESPN or someone else, after FSU leaves?

The conversation then steered into something FSU’s counsel calls a “Choke at Doak clause.”

UPDATE (10:24 a.m.): We have a little drama here in Room 3G. FSU’s attorney just held up copies of three contracts in dispute here, including the ACC-ESPN contract. It turns out pages 1-160 are blank.

FSU has been trying to get a physical copy of the contract for weeks, because the contract is kept secret at the ACC’s headquarters in North Carolina.

UPDATE (10:10 a.m.): FSU’s attorney, Peter Rush counters the ACC’s point about whether this case is ripe and should be in front of a judge. Rush said there are multiple cases involving multiple courts (this one, one in North Carolina plus the Clemson case in South Carolina) involving an ongoing contract dispute. Rush said FSU is asking for this court to help resolve that dispute.

“The sooner you do it,” Rush said, “the sooner this matter is over.”

UPDATE (10:06 a.m.): The ongoing discussion is on whether FSU’s claims are ripe, or whether they’re abstract and hypothetical. FSU hasn’t given a notice to withdraw. “That fact alone,” ACC attorney Amber Nunnally said, “full stop, shows that their claims are not ripe and that it is an improper request.”

UPDATE (9:58 a.m.): The ACC just summed up FSU’s case: After being a member of the conference for decades and taking millions for years, “Florida State is now asking you to invalidate the contract they believe no longer serves them.”

The current discussion is dealing with unenforceable provisions of contracts in general. That’s a key part for FSU. Is the $130 million exit fee to leave the conference enforceable?

UPDATE (9:51 a.m.): The ACC’s arguments are being presented by attorney Amber Nunnally. She’s a double FSU graduate, so she said she understands the passion and heated rhetoric on display in this case. Nunnally said this case is pretty simple; it’s a contract dispute over things both parties signed.

UPDATE (9:39 a.m.): The second hearing of Florida State University v. Atlantic Coast Conference has begun. Judge John C. Cooper wheeled a cart of documents/folders to the bench. He’s going to skip using the computer today because of a technical issue.

DEVELOPING: The legal saga between Florida State University and the Atlantic Coast Conference returns to the Leon County Courthouse this morning. Judge John C. Cooper is set to preside over the second hearing in FSU’s lawsuit against the ACC at 9:30 a.m.

It’s happening because Cooper previously rejected the conference’s motion to stay, or pause, FSU’s suit while the complaint the ACC filed in North Carolina proceeds. That happened two weeks ago at the last hearing.

This one will focus on two other motions by the ACC. The conference wants to dismiss FSU’s case. It also wants to pause discovery in this suit, if it its proceed. It’s the latest phase of a complicated situation that could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The dueling lawsuits center on FSU’s potential exit from the ACC, its conference home since 1991. One component is an estimated $130 million fee FSU and other schools (like Clemson) would have to pay to leave the conference. Florida State has questioned its enforceability, arguing it’s draconian. The ACC counters that it was previously approved by league members.

Another component involves TV money from the ACC’s contracts with ESPN. One question is how long the conference holds the TV rights to FSU home games. Does that deal end if/when the Seminoles leave the league? Or does the ACC continue holding them until the end of its TV deals, as late as 2036? Hundreds of millions of dollars hinge on the answer. Attorneys for FSU have estimated the total cost to leave could be as much as $700 million.

We’ll update this post throughout the hearing.

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