The NFL appointed former United States District Judge Barbara S. Jones to handle the appeal case filed by the NFL Players Association on Ray Rice’s behalf.

Commissioner Roger Goodell was required by the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement to consult with NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith before naming Jones to hear the appeal.

Rice was suspended by the league on Sept. 8 for violating the league’s personal conduct policy as it pertains to domestic violence.

Video showed the former Baltimore Ravels running back knocking out his future wife, Janay, with a punch in an elevator at an Atlantic City, N.J., hotel in February.

Judge Jones is currently part of the Zuckerman Spaeder law firm after serving in the Southern District of New York from 1996 to 2013. Before that appointment, she was an attorney in the Department of Justice, an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York and Chief Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan.

“We are grateful to Judge Jones for taking on this role,” Goodell said. “She will have our full cooperation as she hears and decides this appeal.”