Legal analyst: It was a good day for Tom Brady

The first round of Tom Brady-vs.-NFL is over, and legal analyst Michael McCann, posting to his Twitter account, called it a "good day" for the Patriots quarterback.

With live Tweets being provided by the New York Daily News' Stephen Brown -- apparently against court rules, as Fox' Mike Garofolo later Tweeted that the "[dude] who was tweeting from the room got the heave ho" -- the public got a glimpse into Judge Richard Berman's interactions with NFL lawyer Daniel Nash and NFLPA lawyer Jeffrey Kessler. The general consensus from legal experts is that Berman was skeptical of Nash's arguments (summed up by McCann as "the evidence doesn't matter, it's whether we could punish Brady"), and that Kessler had more complete answers to Berman's questions.

Wrote Stephanie Stradley, a lawyer who also covers the Houston Texans for Houston Chronicle Online: "Judge Berman is eviscerating the NFL position with his questions. Humiliating them for not being reasonable, settling."

Nash admitted under direct questioning that there was no direct evidence linking Brady to a ball-deflation scheme in the AFC Championship Game, but said the circumstantial evidence "clearly indicates Mr. Brady’s knowledge and encouragement of this activity." He also cited Supreme Court rulings when he concluded: "When disputes like this are resolved, courts must defer to the arbitrator." The arbitrator in this case was commissioner Roger Goodell, who also handed down the punishment, a situation Nash described as unusual in normal collective-bargaining agreements but not in sports.

Kessler answered the judge's inquiries as to whether or not the footballs would have been deflated without Brady's knowledge or consent, and why Brady didn't cooperate with the Wells investigation by at least providing text messages. On both counts, Kessler provided answers that McCann and Stradley called "astute" and "reasonable."

On the deflation of footballs, Kessler raised the possibility that the equipment people may have acted unilaterally. ("It is conceivable Mr. [Jim] McNally thought it would be something that would be good for his quarterback. That makes a certain logical sense.") Stradley lauded this strategy, saying it "[reasonably] acknowledged many multiple explanations for NFL *evidence.* Reasonable is persuasive."

Kessler also conceded Brady -- who acted on the advice of his agent, Don Yee, in not turning over cell-phone communications to Wells -- "should have conducted himself differently" in regards to surrendering the information. McCann said that by doing that, "Kessler astutely opens door for Brady to accept settlement where he accepts blame for not being cooperative enough."