UPDATED: May 22, 2013 at 3:07 p.m.

The year sexual abuse allegations against Bernie Fine publicly broke, Syracuse University’s legal fees increased by about 92 percent.

The university’s legal expenses are listed in SU’s Internal Revenue Service Form 990. Nonprofit organizations file the form with the IRS each year. In 2011, the university reported that it spent $9,828,574 in legal expenses, compared to $5,120,316 in 2010. The 2011 fiscal year ran from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012.

Lou Marcoccia, SU’s chief financial officer, said the allegations were a direct contribution to the school’s legal fee increase, but did not disclose what percentage of the fees could be attributed to the allegations.

Legal fees usually fluctuate, he said, depending on the projects that the university undertakes, but the Fine allegations were an anomaly, creating a rare spike in costs.

“Legal cost increase by itself is nothing we consider to be abnormal, other than the impact from the Fine litigation,” Marcoccia said.

Fine, former associate men’s head basketball coach, was fired on Nov. 27, 2011 after two former ball boys accused him of sexually abusing them in the 1980s. He has denied all wrongdoing and wasn’t charged after a nearly yearlong federal investigation.

The 990 form also shows SU’s legal counsel, Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC, as the largest paid independent contractor, earning $4,003,580 in 2011. That’s about 16.9 percent more than in 2010, when SU paid the firm $3,425,082.

Several legal matters remain with the allegations.

In March, a state Supreme Court justice ruled National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh — an insurance company SU had a policy with — must pay for the cost of state and federal subpoenas related to the Fine investigation and the university’s defense costs. SU said preparing the subpoenas cost “millions of dollars.”

That same month, Fine filed a defamation lawsuit against ESPN for reporting sex abuse claims against him. In February, a federal judge dismissed part of a libel lawsuit filed by Bernie Fine’s wife, Laurie Fine, against ESPN.

Bobby Davis and Mike Lang, the two former ball boys who accused Bernie Fine of sexual abuse, appealed a slander lawsuit against men’s head basketball coach Jim Boeheim in April as well.

—Asst. News Editor Alfred Ng contributed reporting to this story.

 

Published on May 21, 2013 at 7:56 pm

Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum