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Sunday, March 04, 2007
Law - Former NCAA investigators are valuable law firm additions
If you have any interest in sports law, don't miss today's front page story in the NY Times. Headlined "Facing N.C.A.A., the Best Defense Is a Legal Team," the long story by Joe Drape mentions Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller a number of times. Our new IU law - Indy dean (see this 1/20/07 ILB entry) is quoted. And I learned facts about IU's Coach Sampson's Oklahoma investigations I hadn't known before:
“You’re talking about a big-time commercial entertainment business that generates millions upon millions of dollars for institutions,” said Gary Roberts, who directed the sports law program at Tulane Law School and was the university’s faculty representative to the N.C.A.A.In fact, a total of $132.6 million will be distributed through their conferences to the 65 teams that qualify for this year’s N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament. A major bowl game last season was worth $14 million to $17 million to each of the conferences of the participating teams.
“There are those who argue that the enforcement process is, in a large part, window dressing,” Mr. Roberts added, “that it is part of keeping the commercial enterprise viable. I don’t think they are crazy.”
Mr. Roberts, who will become the dean of the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis in July, said institutions that hired specialized law firms usually fared better than those that did not.
It used to be that the N.C.A.A. caught wind of a problem at a university, investigated and meted out punishment. Now, with a stretched staff and member institutions often feeling wary of the enforcement process, outside firms have become the nexus for law and order in college sports. * * *
David Price, the N.C.A.A.’s vice president for enforcement services, acknowledged that many athletic programs continued to bend, if not outright break, the rules. And his staff, which has nearly doubled in the past few years, cannot hope to catch them all. The N.C.A.A. does not have subpoena power, and it must get all information on the record to build a case.
“We’re certainly very busy, but I also think the N.C.A.A. membership doesn’t want a police state,” he said.
That is why representatives from law firms like Bond, Schoeneck & King; Ice Miller in Indianapolis; and several others consistently attend the 15 to 20 hearings a year held by the N.C.A.A.’s Committee on Infractions. These law firms are the first places athletic directors turn to when confronted with allegations of wrongdoing by their teams.
Athletic directors say a thorough and quiet internal investigation provides an institution with a greater understanding of what went wrong and minimizes the risk of a public relations disaster. Because these lawyers were once a part of the N.C.A.A., they say they understand what punishment fits a particular a offense, so they recommend a course of corrective action for the university and penalties it can immediately impose.
Although the N.C.A.A.’s infractions committee sometimes adds further restrictions, it rarely rejects the recommended sentence. * * *
The University of Oklahoma hired Ice Miller when it faced investigations involving its basketball and football programs. The former men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson made prohibited phone calls to prospects, and two football players were found to have received no-show jobs at a booster’s car dealership.
Ice Miller’s collegiate sports practice offers Robin Green Harris, who spent nine years at the N.C.A.A., including a five-year stint as the director of the infractions committee, and Mark Jones, who spent 18 years at the N.C.A.A., most recently as managing director of enforcement. Oklahoma’s athletic director, Joe Castiglione, said the firm’s credentials attracted the university, which has paid $336,000 in legal fees since 2003.
Last May, the Oklahoma men’s basketball program was placed on probation for two years and lost scholarships and some recruiting visits and calls. Now at Indiana, Sampson has been barred from calling and visiting potential recruits for a year.
On the advice of Ice Miller, Oklahoma disassociated from the booster, and reduced the number of football scholarships and limited the number of coaches allowed to recruit off campus. In April, the university will appear before the N.C.A.A. infractions committee, which will decide if these football penalties are sufficient.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 4, 2007 11:21 AM
Posted to General Law Related