Keyshawn Johnson scores in lawsuit over unpaid scouting fees

Filed 59m ago · Via Courthouse News · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

Funky Boxstep

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Eric Gillet · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Former NFL receiver Keyshawn Johnson's breach of contract suit against agent Christopher Ellison survived a motion to dismiss Thursday, with a jury trial tentatively set for November. Johnson claims a 2015 oral agreement entitled him to a third of Ellison's commission for recruiting NFL prospects, and says he's owed nearly $1 million after payments stopped.

Ellison, representing himself, argued Johnson's account was fictional and that Johnson, lacking an agent's license, would have acted illegally as an unlicensed recruiter if his version were true. Judge Thomas Long rejected the argument, ruling the illegality defense raised factual questions that can't be resolved this early, and let all six of Johnson's claims stand.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

An agent arguing that his own client's story, if true, proves the client broke the law is a bold way to avoid paying a bill. It's the kind of defense that only works if nobody asks the obvious next question about who set the deal up that way to begin with. The judge asked it anyway.

Source: Read the original at Courthouse News → Scored: Funky Boxstep · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

Read it scored.

Every story, every clown, every kazoo — in your pocket. Music plays automatically. Regret is optional.

GET IT ON iOS GET IT ON ANDROID

OR FOLLOW THE DESK ON BLUESKY →