The ruling was a surprise to some legal experts who believed Berman was merely pressuring the league to settle at two hearings when he criticized its handling of the investigation over the last eight months.The Liberal Judge clearly took sides.
That’s his job. There was a dispute, a lawsuit was filed, he was called upon to settle the dispute. He urged the two sides multiple times to settle it among themselves, they failed, he had to rule. And he had to rule before the NFL won by default because the season (and suspension) starts in a week. Even if he was going to rule for the NFL, it had to be done.