Lawsuit dropped between Angelos parties

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

I estimated, years ago, that the difference between the Orioles' position and the arbitration award was between $19 and $21 million a year from 2012-16. But that was based on the first RSDC arbitration award. Is your $20 million estimate based on the second RSDC award,  where I thought the spread was a little less per year? 

I don't know whether interest has been running, and if so when and at what rate.

Interest is definitely running, and it’s at a high rate, the NY statutory post-judgment rate, I believe.  There been court papers about that.  

My memory of the second Arb award was that the total five year amount was almost identical to the first award, but the annual increase from 2012 to 2016 was significantly less in the second award, and so it was more favorable to MASN/the O’s in terms of applying its logic to periods beginning 2017 and beyond.  
 

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Frobby said:

Interest is definitely running, and it’s at a high rate, the NY statutory post-judgment rate, I believe.  There been court papers about that.  

My memory of the second Arb award was that the total five year amount was almost identical to the first award, but the annual increase from 2012 to 2016 was significantly less in the second award, and so it was more favorable to MASN/the O’s in terms of applying its logic to periods beginning 2017 and beyond.  
 

As someone on the outside, why does this process go so slowly?

Is it actually necessary to have this long a period between hearings?

 

[spiritof66]

20 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

As someone on the outside, why does this process go so slowly?

Is it actually necessary to have this long a period between hearings?

 

I used to get paid for evading questions like that, but for you and the OH it's free.

New York interest is 9 percent a year. That's a large addition.

We should know how the Orioles have reserved against this $100-million plus as soon as John Angelos . . . 

[jabba72]

I see this as good news to hopefully facilitate a quick sale.

One can dream.

[Can_of_corn]

8 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

I used to get paid for evading questions like that, but for you and the OH it's free.

New York interest is 9 percent a year. That's a large addition.

We should know how the Orioles have reserved against this $100-million plus as soon as John Angelos . . . 

I just don't understand why so much delay is baked into the system.  I guess I just think that the courts would rather expedite things than have this huge number of cases moving slowly through the system.

[AnythingO's]

20 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

We should know how the Orioles have reserved against this $100-million plus as soon as John Angelos . . . 

Cute . Is there a way that this MASN lawsuit "resolution" could only be directed toward MASN itself and its separate ownership group? Could such "resolution" perhaps lead to the dissolution of the O's-Nats partnership? In my non-lawyer brain I'm imagining a bill coming due that JA hasn't adequately prepared to pay so he might be forced to "sell" half of the RSN to the Nats. I get they already own probably 25% but Frobby would know exactly. Also, I realize PA is a large part of both ownership groups so indirect cost to the Angelos family fortunes. 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

As someone on the outside, why does this process go so slowly?

Is it actually necessary to have this long a period between hearings?

 

It’s mostly a function of the court system being very crowded.  The briefs in this case were done last spring, I believe.  The parties easily could have been prepared to argue the case within a couple of weeks from brief completion, but the court is juggling a lot of cases, typically pretty complex, and needs time to read everything and prepare for the argument.   Then it needs to write an opinion, which takes a while to do.

[Frobby]

34 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I just don't understand why so much delay is baked into the system.  I guess I just think that the courts would rather expedite things than have this huge number of cases moving slowly through the system.

Obviously, courts can move very quickly when a matter is very time-sensitive.   But when they perceive that a case is just about money, they don’t move that fast.   Some move faster than others.   

At least we’re not Luxembourg.  There, parties file their briefs, and then when they have a hearing, they read their briefs out loud.  The court only sits for 3 hours 3 days a week, so it can take days just to orate what the judges could read in an hour or two.  

I once monitored a case in England where the plaintiff’s opening statement took 70+ days, and then the defendant’s statement took about 100 days.  That was all before a witness had been called.  

So, consider us lucky!

[Ohfan67]

34 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Obviously, courts can move very quickly when a matter is very time-sensitive.   But when they perceive that a case is just about money, they don’t move that fast.   Some move faster than others.   

At least we’re not Luxembourg.  There, parties file their briefs, and then when they have a hearing, they read their briefs out loud.  The court only sits for 3 hours 3 days a week, so it can take days just to orate what the judges could read in an hour or two.  

I once monitored a case in England where the plaintiff’s opening statement took 70+ days, and then the defendant’s statement took about 100 days.  That was all before a witness had been called.  

So, consider us lucky!

Wow!! That seems insane. Why would they do this? Just tradition? Wow. 

[EricK]

1 hour ago, AnythingO's said:

Cute . Is there a way that this MASN lawsuit "resolution" could only be directed toward MASN itself and its separate ownership group? Could such "resolution" perhaps lead to the dissolution of the O's-Nats partnership? In my non-lawyer brain I'm imagining a bill coming due that JA hasn't adequately prepared to pay so he might be forced to "sell" half of the RSN to the Nats. I get they already own probably 25% but Frobby would know exactly. Also, I realize PA is a large part of both ownership groups so indirect cost to the Angelos family fortunes. 

I don't see any "resolution" in the MASN case touching MLB's agreement as to MASN and the original move.  They'll decide as to how much should MASN pay the Gnats and O's per year and leave it there.  I think the MASN split was originally 90/10 O's/Nats going to 67/33 over time.  But MLB may have placed a future sale condition on resolving their (MLB) created issue (ask Spiritof66).  

FWIW, I think any money currently at issue (i.e., the money that an arbitrator may dictate that MASN owes the Nats) should be in escrow.  Perhaps as much as $20M per year from 2012-2017 (and presumably for later years with potentially similar numbers).  

Many issues may come to a head when PA passes away and the O's are sold.  But until then, we won't know.

[Frobby]

11 minutes ago, EricK said:

 

FWIW, I think any money currently at issue (i.e., the money that an arbitrator may dictate that MASN owes the Nats) should be in escrow.  Perhaps as much as $20M per year from 2012-2017 (and presumably for later years with potentially similar numbers).  

MASN had to post some kind of bond covering the award as a condition of staying enforcement pending the result of the appeal.  There was some dispute over the form of the bond, of course, because nothing goes undisputed in this case.   Then the Nats moved to increase the bond to account for the accruing interest on the award, but the court declined to do it.   

There really isn’t any information out there about what’s being paid for 2017-21 while the 2012-16 dispute crawls along.  It would seem obvious that MASN needs to have money available to pay for whatever ultimately is awarded for 2017 and beyond.  But nothing is that obvious in this case.   
 

[Going Underground]

Sun says one of ththe reasons they settled was because of were getting closer to financial records being released.

As legal battle delved further into Angelos family’s personal, financial dealings, they agree to drop lawsuits – Baltimore Sun
httpsFCC://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/bs-md-angelos-suit-settled-20230206-pqx4qtlw65dljjyihnmwywyv5i-story.html

[Going Underground]

22 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

Sun says one of ththe reasons they settled was because of were getting closer to financial records being released.

As legal battle delved further into Angelos family’s personal, financial dealings, they agree to drop lawsuits – Baltimore Sun
httpsFCC://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/bs-md-angelos-suit-settled-20230206-pqx4qtlw65dljjyihnmwywyv5i-story.html

On Jan. 26, Judge Keith Truffer ordered a range of documents to be turned over to Louis Angelos and his lawyers, including from Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs, an investment firm Georgia Angelos worked with on a possible sale of the Orioles.

The judge also wanted Louis Angelos’ team to receive any documents and communications regarding a possible sale of the family’s interest in the Orioles or MASN.

Truffer had set a deadline of 14 days, instructing Georgia and John Angelos to “produce financial statements reflecting the financial condition of the Baltimore Orioles Limited Partnership (”BOLP”), which includes the Orioles and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, from January 1, 2017, to the present.”

Further, he wrote, they also would provide documents to show “compensation or other benefits paid to John Angelos from January 1, 2017 to present in connection with his duties for BOLP, including his work for the Baltimore Orioles and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.”

[Going Underground]

26 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

 

As for people who think John will sell,don't think it will happen.What else gives him this power.

The suits raised concerns among fans that a sale of the team could mean it would move. Louis Angelos suggested in one filing that John Angelos, who has a home in Nashville, could relocate the team to Tennessee. John Angelos has said repeatedly the team will not leave Baltimore, and sources told The Sun he wants to maintain his family’s majority ownership, even if a portion of its shares are sold.

[Can_of_corn]

As much as they dislike each other than can find common ground in keeping the masses from seeing the books.

Transparency.