Retired NFL player's lead counsel removed for attempting to 'manufacture discord,' judge says
Former NFL player Brett Favre, shown here at the 2020 Super Bowl, is accused of misusing TANF funds to build a new volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM )
A Mississippi judge on Thursday removed one of retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre’s lawyers in a state civil lawsuit involving misspent welfare funds.
In her removal order, Hinds County Circuit Judge Faye Peterson said Daniel Koevary—Favre’s lead defense counsel, who is based in New York City—violated Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure by “repeatedly demanding hearings for matters unrelated to and not within the jurisdiction of this Court to resolve.” The judge described the attorney’s actions as “an attempt to manufacture discord.”
The Associated Press reported on the decision.
The Mississippi Department of Human Services filed the lawsuit in 2022 against Favre and more than three dozen other people and companies who allegedly misspent money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
Mississippi Auditor Shad White said Favre improperly received $1.1 million in speaking fees from a nonprofit that spent the money with the department’s approval, according to the Associated Press. The funds were directed to a new volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi, Favre’s alma mater and where his daughter played on the team.
Favre, who is not facing criminal charges, has repaid the state the money he received.
In her order, Peterson directed Koevary to pay the costs associated with motions that were “filed for harassment and delay” within 10 days. She also said all future pleadings and motions should be handled by local counsel.
“Due to ongoing issues created by defense counsel paired with his meritless attack on the Court, this Court can fashion only one appropriate sanction absent revocation of counsel’s pro hac vice status and removal of him and his firm from this courtroom,” the judge wrote.
When asked for comment, Koevary provided a copy of a suppression order that prohibits parties in the case from speaking with the media. Peterson signed the order in May.
According to the Associated Press, White has said more than $77 million in funds from Mississippi’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program was misspent between 2016 and 2019.
