In a much anticipated ruling, specially-appointed Judge Daniel Howsare granted the Petition to compel access to Freeh Report source materials filed by seven Alumni-Elected Trustees of the Pennsylvania State University. MBK filed the Petition on behalf of the Alumni-Elected Trustees after Penn State refused to permit the Trustees access to the complete source materials. Penn State blocked the access and asserted that the source materials were not reasonably related to the fiduciary duties of the Trustees, that the Trustees were likely to use the materials in a manner inconsistent with their fiduciary duties and that access was inconsistent with a promise of confidentiality made by Penn State to persons who cooperated with the Freeh investigation. After extensive briefing and proceedings, the Court rejected every argument advanced by Penn State and granted the Petition filed by MBK. The Court characterized the claim that interviewees were promised confidentiality as “problematic,” noting that the evidence did not support the claim made by Penn State.

Pursuant to the Court’s Order, MBK will be permitted to access the source material in their role as counsel to the Petitioner Trustees and will continue to advise the Petitioner Trustees as they undertake the important work of reviewing and evaluating the source material.

News Coverage: Legal Intelligencer November 20, 2015; Scranton Times November 25, 2015; Penn Live November 19, 2015; Centre Daily Times November 19, 2015; Pittsburgh Post Gazette November 19, 2015;