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Ruling by Judge Rice is major victory for former Ursuline student athletes, BetrasKopp vows to continue fighting for any player wrongfully denied the right to compete in football and other interscholastic sports

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Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Ronald Rice has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) that bars the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) from enforcing a September 15 ruling that prohibits former Ursuline High School student athletes who were not involved in the alleged sexual abuse and hazing incidents that led to the cancellation of the school’s 2025 football season from transferring to and playing for other Ohio high schools.

Judge Rice granted the TRO in response to a lawsuit filed by Attorneys Brian Kopp and Frank Cassese of BetrasKopp Attorneys at Law on behalf of two former Ursuline players who transferred to Girard High School and sought to join that school’s football team immediately after Ursuline cancelled its season on September 12. The OHSAA’s September 15 ruling would prevent them from doing so.

In their motion for the TRO and during oral arguments, Attorneys Kopp and Cassese asserted that their clients would suffer irreparable harm if they are prohibited from playing football during the 2025 season. Judge Rice agreed:

Upon review of the Plaintiffs’ Verified Complaint and after hearing the oral arguments from Counsel, the Court finds that the process set forth by Defendant bylaws does not account for or contemplate Plaintiffs’ situation. To rigidly require Plaintiffs to attempt to seek relief through the currently stated bylaws, which do not account for the situation at hand, would be futile and would deprive Plaintiffs of any relief given the very short timeframe at issue. Plaintiffs most certainly will be irreparably harmed if they, as innocent parties, are prohibited from playing during the 2025 season as that is time that cannot be replaced or compensated. Any injury to third parties would be minimal compared to the irreparable injury that would be suffered by Plaintiffs. This is not typical situation of a student transferring schools midseason as contemplated by the OHSAA bylaws. This is an extremely unfortunate situation that was outside of Plaintiffs’ control. Lastly, the Court finds that public interest will be served in allowing these Plaintiffs to enjoy playing in the remainder of the 2025 football season at Girard High Scho I. These students should not have this time and opportunity taken away from them because of misconduct caused by third parties.

The TRO enjoins the OHSAA and its Executive Director David Ute from prohibiting the plaintiffs “…from participation in the remainder of the 2025 interscholastic athletic season and postseason tournaments at Girard High School or until further order of this Court.”

“Judge Rice understands that the OHSAA Bylaws completely failed to address the situation confronting innocent Ursuline High School football players,” Attorney Kopp said after the TRO was issued. “The court also recognized that the Ursuline players were subject to a flawed and futile process which unjustly denied them of their eligibility.  We are extremely pleased with the ruling, but we are not done.  We will continue to fight for any player who has been wrongfully denied his right to compete in football, a game which is part of the basic fabric of our town.” (May want to add region and state of Ohio here.)

In addition to the TRO, the plaintiffs are also seeking a preliminary injunction. A hearing on that matter will be held on October 15, 2025.

Click here to view/download BK’s verified complaint. Click here to view/download Judge Rice’s ruling.

BK suit alleges Bank of America conspired with the NFL and Daniel Snyder to force Robert Rothman and two other minority partners to sell their stake in the Washington Commanders

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Attorney Brian Kopp

Attorney Brian Kopp, Managing Partner, BK’s Complex Litigation and Sports Law practice groups.

A lawsuit filed by Attorney Brian Kopp, managing partner of BK’s Complex Litigation and Sports Law Practice Groups, dominated the news in the sports world yesterday.

As reported by ESPN, the Washington Post, and numerous other media outlets, in the suit filed against Bank of America (BoA) on behalf of Robert Rothman, a former minority partner in the Washington Commanders NFL franchise, Attorney Kopp alleges that BoA, along with former Commanders owner Daniel Snyder and NFL officials, who are not named as defendants in the lawsuit, “conspired” to force Rothman and his two fellow minority partners to sell their 40% stake to Snyder for $875 million in April 2021.

The sale price reflected a team valuation of less than $3 billion, the lawsuit says. In July 2023, Snyder sold the Commanders for $6.05 billion, which the lawsuit claims “was the culmination of [Bank of America’s] and Snyder’s conspiratorial conduct.”

By allegedly ignoring “Snyder’s improper and illegal dealings,” Bank of America executives “knew or reasonably anticipated that Snyder would have to sell the Franchise as a result of Snyder’s indebtedness,” Attorney Kopp wrote in the 45-page complaint filed Wednesday in Tampa federal court.

“For profit and prestige, BoA blind-eyed legal, ethical and moral obligations,” Atty. Kopp told ESPN Wednesday. “As a client of the BofA’s financial service division, Bob was entitled to honest financial advice free of conflict and bad motive.

ESPN notes that Attorney Kopp alleges in the suit that BoA ignored “financial red flags” raised by Snyder’s financial mismanagement of the team, including an increasing reliance on debt and failure to pay his partners their quarterly share of profits. The centerpiece of Rothman’s lawsuit is the bank’s December 2018 approval of the franchise’s $55 million credit line taken out by Snyder without his minority partners’ knowledge or required approval. The bank allowed Snyder to draw $38 million in March 2019 from the credit line “without verifying Snyder had obtained board approval,” the lawsuit states.

The bank approved the loan at the same time Snyder was allegedly “self-dealing” by paying himself millions of dollars through the Commanders, including charging $3.5 million to place a team logo on his private jet and $7 million in expenses for “yacht(s), residential properties, personal staff, automobiles, and other personal entertainment and lifetime expenses,” according to the lawsuit.

Read more about the suit here: https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/rothman-sues-bank-america-commanders-sale/story?id=105953295

 

BKH Sports Law Client Joe Moorhead engineers Oregon Duck’s victory over Ohio State

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Oregon Duck's Coach Joe MoorheadBecause we love our friends who are Buckeye fans, we’ve waited a few days to congratulate Oregon Offensive Coordinator and Quarterback Coach Joe Moorhead for engineering the Duck’s impressive 35-28 victory over Ohio State.
Like a number of outstanding coaches across the U.S., Coach Moorhead is represented by Brian Kopp, director of BKH’s Sports Law Practice Group who assisted him in his contract negotiations with Fordham University, Penn State, Mississippi State, and Oregon.
Coach Moorhead’s game plan garnered special recognition on Sports Illustrated’s website which posted an in-depth analysis of the Duck’s spilt zone run-pass option. According to SI, Coach Moorhead’s new take on the classic offense wreaked havoc on the Buckeyes. Check out the SI post here: https://www.si.com/…/oregon-split-zone-rpo-triple…
And check our Facebook page, websites, and Instagram account for updates on our sports clients along with news and info on college and pro football from Brian and Arturo Uzdavinis who played ball at Tulane and in the NFL.
It’s going to be a great season, we invite you to spend it with us.