In NCAA Investigations, Lawyers Are at the Ready

The stakes grow higher every year for big-time sports programs accused of violating NCAA rules, and universities are increasingly responding to such allegations by building their own legal teams: One law firm, Lightfoot, Franklin & White, has billed the University of Michigan nearly $447,000 so far in legal fees for advising the university in a continuing NCAA investigation. (And that amount was calculated in April—long before a hearing on the case last month by the NCAA’s Division I Committee on Infractions.)

The National Law Journal has an article today about this increased involvement of outside law firms in NCAA infractions cases. It includes an intriguing comment from Scott Tompsett, a lawyer who is representing five Division I coaches involved in major infractions cases. Among Mr. Tompsett’s clients are Michigan’s Rich Rodriguez and the former USC assistant football coach Todd McNair, who was singled out in the NCAA’s recent penalties against Southern Cal for rules violations in its football and men’s basketball programs.

“Coaches need their own individual counsel because the institution’s counsel is looking after the institution’s interest. Often the interests of the coaches are not in line with the interests of the institutions,” Mr. Tompsett said. “When a coach hires me, they are probably facing the most difficult professional crisis they will ever go through. Their jobs and their careers are often on the line.”

But Michael Buckner, a lawyer who represents universities in NCAA infractions cases, says the practice of maintaining separate counsel for coaches and universities makes the infractions process “adversarial.”

“It muddies the waters because the system is not set up to involve the coaches in investigations and hearings,” he told the Journal. “It’s causing a significant change in how cases have been processed, and it will force the NCAA to adjust its procedures and practices.”