Though attorney Thomas J. Farrell said his job representing former Interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz is the highest profile case he has ever dealt with, he believes he’s the most qualified for the job.
Farrell said he is happy to represent Schultz.
“I believe in him 100 percent,” Farrell said. “I think he deserves to be not just found not guilty, but exonerated.”
In early November, Schultz and former Athletic Director Tim Curley were charged with perjury and failure to report abuse. According to a grand jury report, the two administrators did not notify law enforcement upon hearing reports that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky had inappropriate contact with a boy in an on-campus shower area and lied under oath about their knowledge. Sandusky is charged with 40 counts of sexually abusing eight boys.
Right now, Farrell said there is not enough evidence for people to jump to conclusions. He said he is confident that the judicial process will show that Schultz “was not told that a 10-year-old boy was raped in the shower.”
Retired United States Assistant Attorney Bruce Teitelbaum, who previously worked in the same office as Farrell, said Farrell’s personality will work in Schultz’s favor.
“I think you can easily describe him as being [someone who’s] not going to get excited or carried away,” Teitelbaum said. “His client will certainly be well served for him in that regard.”
But just because this is one of his biggest cases doesn’t mean he hasn’t had experience, Farrell said.
Farrell grew up in Brooklyn. He graduated with a philosophy degree from Yale University and continued to New York University to study law.
After graduation, he was employed as a federal judge in Pittsburgh for two years. He then returned to New York City as a public defender in federal court for five years.
Next, he returned to Pittsburgh where he was a Federal Prosecutor Assistant at the U.S. Attorney Department for Justice.
Here, he prosecuted cases involving public corruption and fraud for five years.
Currently, Farrell works at Farrell and Reisinger LLC, a private practice he has worked at for eleven years on mostly “white-collar” cases, he said.
He is on the American Civil Liberties Union board in Pittsburgh.
He said some of his biggest cases involved lawsuits against companies and environmental lawsuits. He also represented New York Yankee Roger Clemens during his hearings.
According to the Farrell and Reisinger website, Farrell won the Director’s Award from the Executive Offices of United States Attorneys.
Teitelbaum said Farrell is very qualified for this job.
