Todd France v. Jason Bernstein

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania civil litigation lawyers represented the parties in a contract and arbitration dispute case.



Courts will disturb an arbitration award only in limited

circumstances, but those circumstances do occasionally arise.

Under the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA”), a court may, for

example, vacate an award that was procured by fraud, and

fraud is exactly what Jason Bernstein says was perpetrated by

Todd France in the arbitration underlying this suit. Like

something out of the film Jerry Maguire, these two sports

agents fought over Bernstein's claim that France improperly

organized a money-making event for a football player who was

then one of Bernstein's clients, all in an effort to induce that

player to fire Bernstein and hire France. The matter went to

arbitration, and, in pre-hearing discovery, France denied

possessing any documents pertaining to the event. He flatly

denied having any involvement in the event at all. The end of

this tale hasn't been told yet, but this much is now clear: France

lied to Bernstein and the arbitrator, though his lies were not

uncovered until after the arbitration was decided in his favor.

Because the arbitration award was procured by France's fraud,

we will reverse the District Court's order confirming the award

and will remand with the instruction to vacate it.



Bernstein and France are certified contract advisors

(more commonly referred to as agents) registered with the

National Football League Players Association ("NFLPA”).

They each represent NFL players in contract negotiations with

NFL teams and in related matters. Bernstein is also the

majority owner of Clarity Sports International LLC ("Clarity

Sports”), which advises and represents professional athletes in

matters other than their playing contracts, such as marketing

and endorsement contracts. France, meanwhile, worked for the

agency CAA Sports LLC ("CAA Sports”) during the period

relevant to this case. As agents for NFL players, Bernstein and

France must comply with the NFLPA Regulations Governing

Contract Advisors ("the NFLPA Regulations”), which are a

product of the collective bargaining agreement the players

have with the NFL and its constituent teams.



Bernstein's roster of clients used to include Kenny

Golladay, a wide receiver who signed a standard representation

agreement with Bernstein in late 2016, before Golladay's

rookie season with the Detroit Lions in 2017. Golladay

simultaneously signed a separate agreement with Bernstein's

Clarity Sports for representation in endorsement and marketing

deals. Under those contracts, Bernstein and Clarity Sports

were Golladay's exclusive representatives. As required by the

NFLPA Regulations, the contracts were filed with the NFLPA.

That agency relationship ended on January 29, 2019,

when Golladay terminated both agreements. Break-ups are

seldom happy affairs, but Golladay's goodbye was particularly

troubling to Bernstein because, three days earlier, Golladay

had participated in an autograph-signing event in Chicago that

Bernstein had played no role in arranging – even though setting

up such publicity and money-making opportunities for

Golladay was precisely what Bernstein and Clarity Sports were

hired to do. Bernstein became aware of the event, but only

because he saw a Facebook post from one of the three sports

memorabilia dealers promoting it. Once Golladay's

agreements with Bernstein and Clarity Sports were

terminated,1 Golladay immediately signed with France.



Bernstein soon came to believe that France and his colleagues

from CAA Sports were behind the signing event the whole

time.

Recognizing the limited circumstances that justify

vacating an arbitration award, we are satisfied that one such

circumstance is present here: the award was procured by fraud.

An honest process is what those who agree to arbitration have

a right to expect. Accordingly, we will reverse and remand for

entry of an order vacating the arbitration award.