UNLV: Legal fees well-spent money

Steve Addy

Friday, April 13, 2001 | 10:20 a.m.

Compared to the potential long-term cost, UNLV president Dr. Carol Harter said $218,000 is a small price to escape the so-called "death penalty" for the men's basketball program.

According to billing figures provided by the athletic department, that's how much UNLV paid a law firm in Overland Park, Kan., to investigate NCAA allegations against the program and represent the school before two NCAA infractions committees.

The case resulted in major sanctions against the Rebels, including four years' probation, and was the impetus for the Dec. 11 removal of coach Bill Bayno. An appeal of one penalty -- this season's ban on postseason play -- was denied by the NCAA in February.

The $218,000 was paid to Bond, Schoeneck & King, headed by former NCAA attorney Michael S. Glazier, who represented UNLV starting in March 1999. His firm has represented about 100 schools in NCAA infractions cases, and its Collegiate Sports Law Group is widely regarded as the industry leader.

Hiring the firm was well worth the money, Harter said.

"It's not cheap, but I feel comfortable that the very worst sanctions weren't visited upon us because of Mike Glazier's expertise," she said. "Sometimes the best you can do is minimize the damage."

The sanctions stemmed mainly from cash and improper benefits given to recruit Lamar Odom in 1997 by UNLV booster Dr. David Chapman, a Las Vegas dentist. The NCAA determined he provided Odom with $5,600 in cash and other benefits.

Because the violations occurred within five years of UNLV's previous probation (1993-96) under coach Jerry Tarkanian, the NCAA regarded the school as a "repeat violator." Thus, the program could have been subject to a two-year shutdown -- the "death penalty" -- if the NCAA had found UNLV guilty of a "lack of institutional control."

Instead, the NCAA cited the university's "failure to monitor" the program and levied a series of penalties, including probation through Dec. 11, 2004 and a reduction of two scholarships per season in 2001-02 and 2002-03.

Harter's dismay over the findings was evidenced by her removal of Bayno, but she said the sanctions could have been far more costly without Glazier's experience and guidance.

"We didn't get the death penalty and we didn't get banned from television," Harter said. "Those kinds of sanctions would have had financial ramifications within the (Mountain West Conference) that would be a lot more complex and hugely more expensive to us.

'You get what you pay for, and Mike Glazier is as good as it gets. (Retaining) a person of his expertise and posture -- someone so highly regarded by the NCAA -- saved us potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Glazier, an NCAA enforcement lawyer from 1979-86, wouldn't speculate on how his representation prevented harsher sanctions.

"You can project, I guess, but no one really knows what else would have happened," he said from his office in Overland Park.

"What's most important is that from the beginning, Dr. Harter and (athletic director) Charlie Cavagnaro felt an obligation and moral commitment to do what was right -- to make an honest assessment of the charges. If the charges were true, try to correct them. If they weren't true, demonstrate why."

Exact figures weren't immediately available, but Cavagnaro said the school paid $22,000 to Bond Schoeneck in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000 and $196,000 since then for a total of $218,000.

The money was paid from a University Systems legal fund generated by interest on accounts not containing public dollars.

Bond Schoeneck charged $210 per hour for investigative and legal services, Cavagnaro said. The firm was also reimbursed for expenses, including travel, phone calls, postage and other supplies.

"That total covers everything, through the appeal," Cavagnaro said. "No question, it can get expensive. There is considerable travel involved. Every phone call, every trip, that's part of the total."

Glazier and his staff traveled to Las Vegas, New York, Fort Worth and other locations in their investigation, and represented UNLV in two hearings: before the NCAA Committee on Infractions on Sept. 22 in Dallas and the Infractions Appeals Committee on Feb. 7 in Chicago.

"It was money well-spent," Cavagnaro said. "The university had to put its best foot forward. Glazier is the expert in the field. He has the credentials. It has been demonstrated over the years."

Though the circumstances of infractions cases vary, other major universities represented by Bond Schoeneck have racked up much larger tabs than UNLV.

Minnesota's ongoing academic fraud case, which resulted in four years' probation and other major penalties, is expected to total about $1 million in legal fees. A 1996 case involving Michigan State's football team resulted in a $650,000 bill by Bond Schoeneck, with almost 3,100 attorney's hours billed at $160 apiece.

Cavagnaro said UNLV's total was less because Glazier handled much of the case himself.

"Ninety percent of it was done by Glazier. We weren't being billed by 10 attorneys," Cavagnaro said. "Don't get me wrong -- this was a serious matter. But comparatively speaking, it wasn't that big a case in terms of numbers of witnesses and so on. There was a minimal number of people involved."

State Board of Regents member Mark Alden said he wasn't opposed to the expenditure.

"It's discretionary income. I wish that money could've gone to academics, but I don't have any problem spending it for legal fees," he said. "When the NCAA charges you, I don't know what else you can do. You can't just sit there and feel helpless."