Current:Home > ContactKansas incurred $10 million in legal fees defending NCAA men's basketball infractions case -NextFrontier Finance
Kansas incurred $10 million in legal fees defending NCAA men's basketball infractions case
View
Date:2025-04-15 08:07:41
Four outside law firms Kansas athletics department used while defending its NCAA infractions case combined to cost more than $10 million, but according to a spokesperson the department assumed all costs related to the case.
The four firms – Bond, Schoeneck & King, Husch Blackwell, Hogan Lovells; and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman – participated across varying times on the case that was resolved in 2023 and concerned both the men’s basketball and football programs. The Kansas public records office provided The Topeka Capital-Journal with an estimate in December of an average of about $2.2 million each of the past five fiscal years and about $70,000 during the current fiscal year, in addition to 1,575 pages of documents related to outside legal fees amassed in relation to the case.
“I think it was obviously pretty established by the time I got to KU, as to the approach and to the notion that we were going to — I don’t want to say spare no resources — but to an extent spare few resources to make sure we had all the right expertise and experience to help us navigate it,” Travis Goff, who became the Kansas athletics director in 2021, said last month. “Going from the NCAA infractions approach to the IARP (Independent Accountability Resolution Process), which was really an unprecedented process, I think warranted additional kind of layers from the legal team perspective.”
Kansas men’s basketball was put on probation and ordered to take down its 2018 Final Four banner as a result of the case, which centered on violations stemming from a 2017federalinvestigation into college basketball corruption. Head coach Bill Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend also served a four-game suspension in 2022. The independent panel created by the NCAA to handle complex cases downgraded the most serious allegations lodged against the program. The case involved whether two representatives of apparel company Adidas were acting as boosters when they arranged payments to steer recruits to Kansas. The penalties were not as harsh as the allegations could have brought.
ON THE CASE:The powerhouse legal team that defended Kansas basketball
BREAK DOWN:Where $10M in outside legal fees paid by Kansas went
The Topeka Capital-Journal posed the question about whether Kansas athletics received assistance in paying the outside legal fees from university funds because not all the invoices in the documents provided specifically named someone with the department, or even the department itself.
The ones for Bond, Schoeneck & King did. For invoices related to the NCAA men's basketball investigation, Megan Walawender was mentioned along with a related location. Walawender was referred to as "Corporate Counsel for KAI" and currently on the Kansas athletics website is listed as a deputy athletics director for compliance and legal affairs.
But Hogan Lovells invoices listed the University of Kansas Medical Center and an address in Kansas City, Kansas. Hogan Lovells invoices routinely referenced "NCAA Proceeding."
Husch Blackwell invoices listed an address on Jayhawk Boulevard in Lawrence. Its invoices referenced the NCAA in a few different ways — "NCAA infractions - (redacted)," "(redacted)/NCAA" and "NCAA Hearing Football."
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman listed the same address Husch Blackwell did and went as far as to specify KU's Strong Hall. There were also times when people affiliated with KU's legal affairs were named. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman's work routinely referred to the "NCAA Infractions Investigation."
The Kansas athletics spokesperson's explanation included that Walawender has also had other responsibilities with the university, other places Walawender has spent time and therefore other places Walawender could have been reached. For example, on the website for KU's general counsel's office Walawender is also listed as a senior associate general counsel. That office has a few different locations: two of those are at the addresses Hogan Lovells, Husch Blackwell and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman listed.
Also, each law firm provided the option of paying electronically or wiring funds to pay.
veryGood! (1254)
Related
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- Utah man dies in avalanche while backcountry skiing in western Montana
- Ex-rideshare driver accused in California antisemitic attack charged with federal hate crime
- Kate Middleton Photographer Shares Details Behind Car Outing With Prince William
- Plunge Into These Olympic Artistic Swimmers’ Hair and Makeup Secrets
- Some Alabama websites hit by ‘denial-of-service’ computer attack
- Texas man who used an iron lung for decades after contracting polio as a child dies at 78
- George Widman, longtime AP photographer and Pulitzer finalist, dead at 79
- Chief beer officer for Yard House: A side gig that comes with a daily swig.
- A CDC team joins the response to 7 measles cases in a Chicago shelter for migrants
Ranking
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- Russian military plane with 15 people on board crashes after engine catches fire during takeoff
- South Carolina Senate to weigh House-approved $13.2 billion budget
- Queen Camilla honored with Barbie doll: 'You've taken about 50 years off my life'
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- Student pilot tried to open Alaska Airlines plane cockpit multiple times mid-flight, complaint says
- More women's basketball coaches are making at least $1M annually, but some say not enough
- Brittany Cartwright Gets Candid About Scary Doubts She Had Before Jax Taylor Separation
Recommendation
Kansas City Chiefs CEO's Daughter Ava Hunt Hospitalized After Falling Down a Mountain
Chick-fil-A to open first mobile pickup restaurant: What to know about the new concept
'1 in 400 million': Rare cow with two heads, four eyes born at a farm in Louisiana
New York trooper found not guilty in fatal shooting of motorist following high-speed chase
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
Olivia Munn Shares She Underwent Double Mastectomy Amid Breast Cancer Battle
Chick-fil-A to open first mobile pickup restaurant: What to know about the new concept
Judge to hear arguments on whether to dismiss Trump’s classified documents prosecution