Understated, yet permeating throughout the decision, are almost a dozen not-so-subtle references to the "independence" of either the Wells investigation, or the Paul, Weiss, et al. law firm itself. The word "independence" and/or its variant "independent" appear in quotes all over the place. A lot was made of Judge Berman's use of 'air quotes' around the word independent during the hearing, but maybe it was more significant than anyone gave it credit for. Clearly, the judge felt that the investigation was biased from the outset:
Pg 3: "On January 23, 2015, the NFL publicly announced that it had retained Theodore V. Wells Jr. and his law firm to conduct an 'independent' investigation.
Pg 5: "On May 6th, 2015, the findings of the Pash/Wells 'independent' Investigation were made public."
Pg 12 (footnote 12, quoting Goodell): "I have expressed my appreciation to Mr. Wells and his colleagues for their thorough and independent work." (emphasis Judge Berman)
Pg 15: "...regarding Paul Weiss's dual and seemingly inconsistent roles as 'independent' investigator and counsel to the NFL." (emphasis in original)
Pg 19: The Court may also vacate an arbitral award 'where there was evident partiality..."
Pg 25: "...Commissioner Goodell may be said to have 'dispense[d] his own brand of industrial justice.'"
Pg 35: "Denied the opportunity to examine Pash at arbitral hearing, Brady was prejudiced. He was foreclosed from exploring, among other things, whether the Pash/Wells Investigation was truly 'independent," and how and why the NFL's General Counsel came to edit a supposedly independent investigation report." "As co-lead investigator and senior executive with the NFL, Pash was in the best position to testify about the NFL's degree of involvement in, and potential shaping of, a heralded 'independent' investigation." (emphasis mine)
Pg 36: "The Court notes that the Paul Weiss role in this case seems to have 'changed' from 'independent' investigators to NFL's retained counsel at the arbitral hearing."
Pg 37: "Compounding Brady's prejudice is the fact that, as noted, Paul Weiss acted as both alleged 'independent' counsel during the investigation and also (perhaps inconsistently) as retained counsel to the NFL during the arbitration."
More than anything, I'm just glad that a neutral party was able to see this sham of an investigation for what it was.