MSU to pay for Lou Anna Simon's defense as legal bills for Larry Nassar scandal near $20M

EAST LANSING - Michigan State University will pay for former university President Lou Anna Simon's criminal defense as its legal bills related to the Larry Nassar scandal approach $20 million.

With those legal fees, plus a settlement with hundreds of Nassar's victims, payments to consultants and a fund that had been set up for some of Nassar's victims to receive counseling, the total cost to MSU as of the middle of November was more than $523 million, according to records obtained through public records requests.

The university is paying the law firms using income generated by its investment office that doesn't come from endowment funds. The university will sell bonds to pay for the $500 million settlement.

$19.37 million and rising

Since December 2016, a dozen law firms have billed the university for $19.37 million for work related to lawsuits and outside investigations connected to Nassar, a former MSU doctor who sexually abused hundreds of women and girls, including many at his campus office.

Read more: https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2019/01/23/larry-nassar-lou-anna-simon-msu-michigan-state-bills/2645371002/