With 27 million users, online Fantasy Sports Web sites are bound to encounter disputes in need of resolutions.
Penn State alumnus Michael Stein, Class 2001, and four associates have put their law degrees and sports experience to work, providing impartial resolution services to Fantasy Sports disputes through fantasyjudgment.com.
Stein, who has a law degree from New York Law School, and four associates -- three with law degrees and another with a sports management degree -- began the online company last year to settle common fantasy sports disputes.
"The purpose is to maintain integrity within the fantasy sports leagues," Stein said. "Our judgments are advisory opinions. It's up to [the users] to implement the ruling."
The service provides third-party opinions on issues including trades, scoring, league rules and statistical alterations as an alternative to the biased judicial system provided by fantasy sports, Stein said.
Current dispute resolutions are determined by a commissioner who is often a league member involved in the dispute and gives a biased ruling, Stein said.
"The league managers are just like us," said Brian Fochler (sophomore-marketing), who has been playing fantasy football for 5 years. "But they have the power to make decisions."
Fochler said an outside ruling would be helpful and worth a reasonable fee.
That's where Stein comes in. The process is simple, he said -- go to the Web site, fill out a form with a detailed explanation of the dispute, pay the fee, and within 24 hours, the justices will review the case and reply with an opinion.
There is a $15 fee per case, or for those with a need of frequent ruling, a season package with unlimited resolutions is available for $100.
