SmashMouth

Hasn't the judge already done her homework prior to this hearing? One would think it might be sufficient for today. More likely, she does not want the additional notoriety.

Halo

Absolutely. She also DOES NOT want the courts butting in on each agreement like this.

She's very serious when she says she wants both parties to come to a settlement. That's an EXTREMELY subtle hint to both - there will probably be no winners on either side.

She's looking for the law to favor Vilma. It's interpretation, but it's also a reach. The NFL has a point, there is a signed agreement that has heavy legal ground.

When a judge overturns a written agreement and settles in favor of an employee, that judgement is EASY overturn-able in higher courts.... in fact a higher court may INSTANTLY grant a stay of a judgement in the court of appeals so they can hear BOTH sides of the argument.

Judge Berrigan can only offer temporary relief for Vilma and send a message to the NFL... but it's temporary. The FINAL, good solution is for a settlement to happen in this matter and both parties return to this agreement and try to learn from the errors both have made to prevent a mess like this from happening again.