How Avenatti May Have Crossed The

EXTORTION — AVANATTI How Avenatti May Have Crossed The Line Into Extortion By Andrew Strickler Share us on: By Andrew Strickler Law360 (March 26, 2019, 9:52 PM EDT) -- A day after being accused of trying to extort Nike, attorney and President Donald Trump antagonist Michael Avenatti was on the offensive Tuesday with allegations of corruption on the part of the company, but those counterpunches likely won't help him dodge federal charges that he went beyond hardball advocacy. According to prosecutors, Avenatti pressed Nike to pay him millions of dollars as an "internal investigator" in addition to the much smaller figure he demanded from the sports gear giant for his youth basketball coach client. The lack of nexus between his client's alleged injury at Nike's hands and Avenatti's demand for eight-figure fees as an investigator puts the allegations well beyond the realm of aggressive posturing and into the parameters of federal extortion statutes, said criminal defense attorney Jeremy Saland of Crotty Saland PC. "Being a blowhard is not illegal, but whether what he's claiming Nike did is fact or fiction doesn't justify trying to enrich himself with a job that doesn't help remedy a wrong suffered by a client," Saland said. On Monday, federal officials in New York arrested Avenatti, charging the pugnacious Los Angeles lawyer with threatening Nike with a stock-price-sinking press conference about recruitment misconduct if it didn't pay up. Avenatti, who purported to be representing the coach of a youth basketball team once sponsored by Nike, demanded $1.5 million for the client, who had recently seen Nike drop its support, according to the charges. Separately, Avenatti and another attorney — an unnamed co-conspirator since identified as celebrity defense attorney Mark Geragos — also demanded Nike hire them to conduct an "internal investigation" related to amateur player recruiting. The cost: at least $12 million and as much as $25 million. Prosecutors said Avenatti was also recorded at a March 21 meeting with Nike lawyers at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP offering to end the entire matter, with no bad publicity for Nike, for $22.5 million. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031776