Admissions scandal cost U. of I. $440,000 so far

The University of Illinois admissions scandal has cost the school about $440,000 in legal fees so far and has made it the target of a state inspector general's investigation, newly released documents show.

The bulk of the legal costs, about $392,000, went to Latham & Watkins for one month's work helping the school comply with the Admissions Review Commission, the state panel that investigated admissions irregularities following Tribune reports. That payment includes $33,000 for the Hill & Knowlton public relations firm.

"Nobody is staffed up for a tsunami, but once it hits, you go out and get the resources to be able to respond," said university spokesman Thomas Hardy, who said the fees will be covered by general university funds. "I would expect that additional bills that we receive will also be significant."

The information was released in heavily redacted documents just before 5 p.m. Friday, the deadline to respond to a Tribune request under the Freedom of Information Act. Shortly afterward, the university put out a news release headlined: "Outside legal counsel key to University cooperation with admissions commission."

The commission was convened after the Tribune found that hundreds of undergraduate applicants and dozens more in graduate programs received preferential treatment because of connections to elected officials, generous donors or university trustees.

For the first time, the documents released Friday publicly confirmed the inspector general's probe when an invoice from Latham & Watkins cited legal work in relation to it.

At least one representative of the Illinois executive inspector general attended the commission hearings, but Deputy Inspector General Gilbert Jimenez said Friday he could not confirm or deny an investigation, per state law. Hardy also would not comment.

The inspector general's office investigates allegations of wrongful acts or omissions by state employees and officials, including at universities. By using its subpoena powers, investigators can obtain the names of students on the university's clout lists and connect them to powerful patrons to see how financial, political and familial ties influenced decisions.

Its final reports typically are not made public, though unlawful conduct uncovered during an investigation is referred to law enforcement agencies or prosecutors.

Regarding the legal fees, university counsel Thomas R. Bearrows said in a statement: "In less than eight weeks, the University, with the assistance of the firm Latham & Watkins LLP, reviewed and provided more than 10,000 pages of documents, prepared 45 witnesses for ... testimony, and made all relevant information and materials available to the commission on an expedited basis."

Among the six law firms hired were Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, P.C., paid $11,605.88 for work on an open-records lawsuit filed by the Tribune; Jenner & Block LLP, paid $14,691.07for work on potential civil lawsuits against the university; and Burke, Burns & Pinelli, Ltd., paid $10,111.50for assistance related to freedom-of-information requests.