Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

Experts discount conflict-of-interest charge

Editor’s note: This story is revised from the print edition.

The instances in which WilmerHale, the firm that employs former FBI Director Robert Mueller, appeared on the other side of the legal table from the NFL were cases in which it represented other teams in dispute with the league.

Commissioner Roger Goodell during his recent press conference about the ongoing challenges facing the NFL rebutted the charge that Mueller is conflicted in conducting the investigation into the Ray Rice scandal because his firm has done legal work for the NFL. Goodell’s response in part noted that WilmerHale has also been on the other side of the table.

The firm of Robert Mueller, who’ll investigate the Ray Rice matter, has both represented and opposed the NFL.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
A league spokesman, when asked later about when WilmerHale represented a party in a legal dispute against the NFL, pointed to when the firm represented both the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys in their salary cap dispute with the league in recent years.

Others outside the league but familiar with WilmerHale also mentioned the 1990s, when the firm represented the Cowboys in the team’s sponsorship dispute with the league and represented the Jack Kent Cooke estate when it tried unsuccessfully to sell the Redskins to Howard Milstein.

It was unclear last week if the firm has ever represented a non-football party in a dispute with the league. A spokeswoman for the firm said she would look into the question but did not follow up in response by press time.

WilmerHale advised the NFL on its 2009 renewal with DirecTV. Baltimore Ravens President Dick Cass also once worked at the firm, where he represented the Cowboys in the 1990s.

That said, legal experts contend the conflict-of-interest charge is a poor one.

“The guy is a credible guy. You are hiring him, not his firm,” said John Goldman, a sports attorney with Herrick, Feinstein, when asked about Mueller. “You are hiring him to come and perform a task in his individual capacity.”

To draw a comparison, Goldman said, a party that Herrick, Feinstein was on the other side of in a lawsuit recently approached the firm to suggest a well-regarded person as a mediator, a individual who had ties to Herrick, Feinstein.

{podcast}

SBJ Podcast:
Media writer John Ourand and Assistant Managing Editor Tom Stinson on how the NFL's recent scandals have had no effect on the league's ratings or advertising, as well as their thoughts on ESPN's suspension of Bill Simmons, in this week's NFL "Behind The Headlines" podcast.

“It happens all the time,” Goldman said.

Mueller served as director of the FBI under both President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush, serving until 2013. He began working at WilmerHale in March.

“Mueller is the former director of the FBI with impeccable credentials and reputation for integrity,” the NFL said in response to questions about his hire. The league declined to talk about the process for tapping Mueller or whether others had been considered.

Former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent, who now is in private legal practice, wrote in an email, “Sometimes conflicts make things work. Usually disclosure cleanses the problem.”

But, Vincent added: “[T]his is much about very little, but these small issues build belief that he [Goodell] is not careful or attentive to the details. This is a small but unforced error and there are many other ‘clean’ people who might have been better choices.”

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/29/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NFL-Mueller.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/29/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NFL-Mueller.aspx

CLOSE