Free Motion in Limine - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

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Morgan & Morgan, P. A.th 20 N. Orange Avenue, 16 Floor Orlando, FL 32801 Clay M. Townsend, Esquire Bar No.: 023414 Brandon S. Peters, Esquire Bar No.: 022641 Keith R. Mitnik, Esquire Bar No.: 436127 Attorneys for Neal Plaintiffs UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF ARIZONA MEADOWLARK LEMON, et al. Plaintiffs, vs. PLAINTIFFS' JOINT IN LIMINE MOTION TO EXCLUDE DEFENDANTS' TESTIMONY AS TO PLAINTIFFS' CONTRACTUAL INTENT Case Nos.: CV 04 0299 PHX DGC and CV-04-1023 PHX DGC

HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS 11 INTERNATIONAL, INC., et al.; 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Inc., 422 F.Supp.2d 1084 (D.Ariz. 2006). Defendants.

Plaintiffs Neal, Rivers, Thornton, Hall, Haynes, Sanders, and Lemon (collectively referred to as "Plaintiffs"), hereby file their In Limine Motion to Exclude Defendants' Testimony as to the Plaintiffs' Contractual Intent at the time Plaintiffs' signed their Player Contracts, and state as follows: The Plaintiffs' testimony as to their intent when signing employment contracts may be considered in deciding this dispute. Miller v. Glenn Miller Productions, 318 F.Supp.2d 923 (C.D. Cal. 2004), holding that in interpreting the terms and scope of a licensing agreement extrinsic evidence may be considered as to "the intent of the parties as it existed at the time of the contracting", citing United States Cellular Invest. Co. of Los Angeles v. GTE Mobilnet, Inc., 281 F.3d 929, 934 (9th Cir. 2002). See also Ervco v. Texaco Refining and Marketing,

Extrinsic evidence includes testimony regarding the circumstances in which the contract was written, and the subsequent conduct of the parties. Id. at [5][6]. If ambiguities can be resolved consistent with the nonmovants position, summary judgment is inappropriate. Id.

Case 2:04-cv-00299-DGC

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This Court has held that in construing a contract under Arizona law, the court is not limited to the four corners of the document and "may consider surrounding circumstances, including negotiation, prior understandings, and, subsequent conduct....". Mauna Loa Vacation Ownership, L.P. v. Accelerated Assets, LLC, 2005 WL 2410676, 59 UCC Rep.Serv.2d 1109 (D. Ariz. 2005). HGI was not a party to the old player contracts from which they seek authority to sublicense FUBU. Defendants have not produced one contemporaneous witness to testify as to the Plaintiffs' intent as to

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DATED this 15th day of November, 2006. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 By: 28
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purported grants of licenses in Plaintiffs' old player contracts at the time they negotiated and executed. Indeed, Defendants have not identified one witness who was present at the negotiation or execution of the Plaintiffs' contracts. Any effort by Defendants to testify as to extrinsic evidence related to the intent of the parties to the contracts would be lacking any foundation. Any testimony as to Plaintiffs' intent is therefore irrelevant under F.R.E. 402, and prejudicial under F.R.E. 403. Pursuant to ¶7 of the Pretrial Order, Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court enter an order stating that Defendants' testimony as to the intent of the parties to Plaintiffs' employment contracts be excluded.

By:

____/S/ _______________________ CLAY M. TOWNSEND, ESQUIRE Florida Bar No.: 363375 KEITH MITNIK, ESQUIRE Florida Bar No.: 436127 BRANDON S. PETERS Florida Bar No.: 965685 Morgan & Morgan, PA 20 N. Orange Avenue, 16th Floor Orlando, FL 32802 Telephone (407) 420-1414 Facsimile (407) 425-8171 Attorneys for Plaintiffs Fred Neal, Larry Rivers, Robert Hall, Dallas Thornton, Marques Haynes and James Sanders ____/S/ _______________________
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Anders Rosenquist, Jr. Florence M. Bruemmer Attorneys for Plaintiff Meadowlark Lemon PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that copies of the above-referenced document have been served via first class mail on the following attorneys: Joel L. Herz, Esq. LAW OFFICES OF JOEL L. HERZ La Paloma Corporate Center 3573 E. Sunrise Dr., Suite 215 Tucson, AZ 85718-3206 Attorneys for Defendants GTFM, LLC, FUBU the Collection, LLC and GTFM Of Orlando, LLC Ira S. Sacks, Esq. Safia A. Anand, Esq. DREIER, LLP 499 Park Avenue New York, NY 10022 Attorneys for Defendants GTFM, LLC, FUBU the Collection, LLC and GTFM of Orlando, LLC Edward R. Garvey, Esq. and Christa Westerberg, Esq. GARVEY McNEIL & McGILLIVRAY, S.C. 634 W. Main St. #101 Madison, WI 53703 Attorneys for Defendants Harlem Globetrotters Int'l, Inc., Harlem Globetrotters Int'l Foundation and Mannie L. & Catherine Jackson Anders Rosenquist, Jr., Esq. Florence M. Bruemmer, Esq. ROSENQUIST & ASSOCIATES 80 E. Columbus Phoenix, AZ 85012 Attorney for Plaintiff Lemon Ray K. Harris, Esq. Fennemore Craig PC 3003 N. Central Avenue, Suite 2600 Phoenix, AZ 85012-2913 Attorneys for Defendants Harlem Globetrotters Int'l. Inc., Harlem Globetrotters Int'l Foundation, and Mannie L. & Catherine Jackson

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Certificate of Service Vanessa Braeley, declares as follows: 1. I hereby certify that on November 15, 2006, a true and correct copy of Plaintiffs' Joint In Limine Motion to Exclude Defendants' Testimony as to Plaintiffs' Contractual Intent was electronically transmitted to the Clerk's Office using the CM/ECF System for filing and transmittal of a Notice of Electronic Filing to the following CM/ECF registrants: Safia A. Anand ­ [email protected] Florence M. Bruemmer ­ [email protected], [email protected] Edward R. Garvey ­ [email protected] Robert Williams Goldwater, III ­ [email protected] Ray Kendall Harris ­ [email protected] Joel Louis Herz ­ [email protected], [email protected] Anders V. Rosenquist, Jr. - [email protected] Ira S. Sacks ­ [email protected] 2. I am and was at all times mentioned herein a citizen of the United States and a resident of Orange County, Florida, over 18 years of age and not a party to the within action or proceeding. My business address is 20 N. Orange Avenue, 16th Floor, Orlando, FL 32801, and I am employed as a legal assistant by Morgan & Morgan, P.A., Clay Townsend is an attorney admitted to practice in Florida and has been admitted pro hac vice in the District Court of Arizona, and directed that service be made. 3. I hereby certify that on November 15, 2006, a true and correct copy of Plaintiffs' Joint In Limine Motion to Exclude Defendants' Testimony as to Plaintiffs' Contractual Intent was sent by postageprepaid first-class U.S. Mail to the following parties, at the addresses listed, to-wit: Joel L. Herz, Esq. LAW OFFICES OF JOEL L. HERZ La Paloma Corporate Center 3573 E. Sunrise Dr., Suite 215 Tucson, AZ 85718-3206 Attorney for Defendants, GTFM, LLC, FUBU the Collection, LLC and GTFM OF Orlando, LLC Ira S. Sacks, Esq. Safia Anand, Esq. DREIER LLP 499 Park Ave. New York, NY 10022 Attorneys for Defendants, GTFM, LLC, FUBU the Collection, LLC and GTFM of Orlando, LLC Edward R. Garvey, Esq. -4Document 488
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Christa Westerberg, Esq. GARVEY McNEIL & McGILLIVRAY, S.C. 634 W. Main Street, Ste. 101 Madison, WI 53703 Attorneys for Defendants Harlem Globetrotters Int'l. Inc., Harlem Globetrotters Int'l Foundation, and Mannie L. & Catherine Jackson Anders Rosenquist, Jr., Esq. Florence M. Bruemmer, Esq. ROSENQUIST & ASSOCIATES 80 E. Columbus Phoenix, AZ 85012 Attorney for Plaintiff Lemon Ray K. Harris, Esq. Fennemore Craig PC 3003 N. Central Avenue, Suite 2600 Phoenix, AZ 85012-2913 Attorneys for Defendants Harlem Globetrotters Int'l. Inc., Harlem Globetrotters Int'l Foundation, and Mannie L. & Catherine Jackson 3. I declare under the penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is true and correct. DATED: November 15, 2006. Signed: ____/S/Vanessa L. Braeley_________ Vanessa L. Braeley Legal Assistant to Clay Townsend MORGAN & MORGAN 20 N. Orange Avenue, 16th Floor Orlando, FL 32801 Attorneys for the Plaintiffs Curly Neal, Larry Rivers, Dallas Thornton, Marques Haynes, Robert Hall and James Sanders

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