Pat Fitzgerald

As pressure grows on Michigan State University for its handling of the Dr. Lawrence G. Nassar case, it was disclosed that NAFUSA member Patrick Fitzgerald had been retained to represent the university. Fitzgerald and his firm, Skadden Arps, were to defend the university in civil lawsuits, facilitate “cooperation” with law enforcement and provide “counseling on any internal reviews conducted to make sure they are carried out in a manner that will best assist the university’s response.”

There was some confusion, as reported in The New York Times 

about whether Fitzgerald was retained to conduct an independent internal investigation or represent the interests of the university. Fitzgerald said on Friday, January 26, 2018, that his team had never been “engaged to produce a public report.”

Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison on January 24, 2018, which led to the resignation of University President Lou Anna K. Simon and Athletic Director Mark Hollis. Fitzgerald wrote the state’s attorney general that “While many in the community today wish that they had identified Nassar as a predator, we believe the evidence in this case will show that no one else at M.S.U. knew that Nassar engaged in criminal behavior.”