Rich Paul sued by NBA player Nerlens Noel over lost $58 million

[Easy-E]

I came in here wondering how you could sue your agent like this;

The Complaint says that Paul, knowing that Noel was represented by Walters in 2017, told Noel that he “was a 100 million man” and that Paul could get Noel a max deal if he terminated his relationship with Walters.

This all allegedly went down at Simmons’ birthday party in Los Angeles, where Paul was sitting next to Noel during the dinner portion of the event. Following the party, Noel parted ways with Walters and signed a Standard Player Agent Contract (SPAC) with Paul. Noel also purportedly took Paul’s advice and ended prior ongoing negotiations with the Dallas Mavericks that would have paid him $70 million over 4-years, in favor of accepting a single-year, $4.1 million qualifying offer with the intention of later seeking a max deal on the free agent market. Paul earned a 4% commission on the qualifying offer.

We clowed the shyt outta Noel for this; but, it was Rich Paul who told him to do that.

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

In your scenario, what grounds (I hope that’s the right word) would he be suing for? I know all the details, but Im just not seein this big 58 million dollar case. His agent stinks for everybody but Lebron; Rich Paul isn’t some dummy that you gonna catch on something like paperwork. Nor are you you gonna body what is basically Lebron legal team in court.

Seems like they're going for negligence

He could have phone records from interested teams at the time showing calls made to Klutch/Paul

 

[Family Lives Matter]

Skip was right all along

 

[Goatpoacher]

Then has said records been produced?

Has Noel supplied any communications from Rich that suggests that he acted in a way other than Noel's wishes?

In order for Rich to have failed his fiduciary responsibility, wouldn't he have had to either act contrary to Noel's wishes, or purposely withheld or supplied information that negatively affected Noel's decision making?

BTW my direct legal experience is mostly military criminal law, not civilian stuff.

Discovery should be starting soon. Any such evidence will likely be part of initial disclosures.

 

[seymour cake]

Skip was right all along

What skip say?

 

[Karume]

Ultimately, yes. Same with Trezz. If your agent tells you to turn down 70-80 million, you fire him. If you want to turn down 70-80 million, it’s his job to talk you into taking it. If he doesn’t, you fire him.

Doesn’t mean Rich Paul isn’t any less of a POS agent though.

What makes him so bad?

 

[seymour cake]

....

 

[Voice of Reason]

Somehow I'm sure Lebron will get blamed

 

[ryderldb]

I think the only way Noel has a shot at winning this is if other team executives are willing to testify and have email proof or voicemails that they reached out to Paul offering a deal with no response. Short of that I don’t see how Noel can prove his accusations.

 

[Dilltastic VolWon(derful)]

Coli attorneys and judges telling us how the case will go

Spoiler

I love this place

 

[jwinfield]

 

[JoseLuisGotcha]

Are some of y’all even reading? He has no case. Nerlens walked away from his agent that was working on the $70 million deal

Paul had no duty to nerlens that was nerlens getting greedy and disloyal to his then agent

never trade in your treasure for an empty box

 

[Wargames]

From a legal standpoint this will be interesting. I am not a professional but if Noel can show the ordinary procedure is to take calls from teams looking to make deals and then show Paul was irregular in not being available for those calls. He has a case, especially if Noel has proof he had to operate himself as his own agent to find and close deals. Then he could show Paul was a negligent party. The problem is how do you show that not taking calls is negligent and Paul could likely argue he was chasing what he perceived as a bigger deal for Noel.

Flipside Paul could also argue if Noel felt he was being negligent why did he stay with him as his client, and pay commissions he felt Paul didn’t deserve? If he can prove he was strung along by a Klutch employee he could win.

Finally, while the amount can’t be hammered down, Noel would have a better argument for loss wages post the Mavericks deal. Paul misjudging how much he was worth on that deal isn’t negligence. It would be if Noel could prove that the seasons after that the failed Mavs deal was when Rich failed to operate as his agent.

I wonder if there is any case law on this topic? If either party has evidence like emails they might be able to win it because on the surface it feels very much like a “he said, she said” situation. Rich also has to fight this out because settling basically admit his record of being a good agent is spotty.

 

[Megadeus]

The fumbled 70 Ms is on him. While Rich Paul did persuade him to leave the deal on the table, Nerlens did agree with him, and voluntarily did so. He's not gonna get 58 million at all.

pretty much this.

Agents get sued every day b. Even Boras.

If Rich Paul thought there was a chance in HELL that he would lose this case, he would have settled it already.
Its funny, whenever people criticize Rich Paul the first and usually only thing they ever bring up is Nerlens Noel. Well when Nerlens loses here, it proves that it was 100% his own fault. And there really isnt much you could say about the guy.

 

[beenz]

Why would he? Didnt his wife say some shyt like he intentionally turned down his extension?

doesn't mean they wouldn't try to hit their representation with a lawsuit if he fails to secure a bag next summer. especially if nerlens sets the precedent for getting paid from this.