Ray Rice’s appeal hearing began Wednesday morning in New York and is expected to conclude sometime Thursday.

The former Baltimore Ravens running back arrived with his wife, Janay Palmer Rice, for the start of the hearing at the offices of former U.S. district judge Barbara S. Jones, who is a third-party arbitrator.

The hearing begins nearly two months after Rice was suspended indefinitely by the NFL and released by the Ravens. Rice is seeking immediate reinstatement.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, league security chief Jeffrey Miller, Ravens president Dick Cass and Rice are among the key witnesses expected to testify. According to reports, Janay Rice might testify.

Rice was suspended indefinitely Sept. 8 for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy after a second video from inside an elevator at an Atlantic City, N.J., casino showed him hitting and knocking out his then-fiancee Janay Palmer.

Goodell originally had suspended Rice for just two games after he pleaded not guilty to a third-degree charge of aggravated assault. Rice avoided trial by being accepted into a pretrial intervention program in May.

Rice and his attorney have contended the league’s indefinite suspension constitutes a second punishment for a single violation of the personal conduct penalty and thus violates the collective bargaining agreement.

The league considered the second video to be new evidence, giving Goodell the authority to amend Rice’s suspension.

Rice has filed a separate grievance against the Ravens, challenging their right to terminate his contract. He is seeking repayment for the games he has missed this season.