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Judge disqualifies St. Louis lawyer in NFL lawsuit

In September, the league moved to disqualify attorney Bob Blitz from representing the plaintiffs and said it wants to preserve its right to call him as a witness

ST. LOUIS — A state-court judge on Wednesday disqualified one of St. Louis' lawyers in its lawsuit against the Los Angeles Rams and National Football League over the team's 2016 relocation.

The league in September moved to disqualify attorney Bob Blitz from representing the plaintiffs — the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and the public entity that owns the Dome at America's Center — and said it wants to preserve its right to call him as a witness at trial. Documents explaining the defendants' rationale for the move were sealed from public view.

But St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Christopher McGraugh, in an order Wednesday granting the disqualification, wrote that the defendants "have shown that Mr. Blitz is likely a necessary witness at trial."

McGraugh said that Blitz was one of two members of a task force that sought to build the Rams a Mississippi Riverfront stadium to keep the team in St. Louis, "and was the sole representative of Plaintiffs in key meetings and communications."

The Blitz firm, called Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch LC, has a long history with St. Louis sports authorities and the Rams.

It long has represented the the St. Louis Regional Sports Authority, a public entity that owns the Dome at America's Center. And in 2015, it began getting paid for work undertaken by the RSA to build the Rams a stadium north of downtown, along the Mississippi River. That effort, which cost $18 million, was abandoned after the team left for California. The Blitz firm, though, got $900,000 for work on the riverfront stadium effort, plus more legal fees involving cases tied to the Rams' old practice facility and a St. Louis ordinance concerning public votes for stadium financing.

Click here for the full story from the St. Louis Business Journal.

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