The Behind-the-Scenes Case That Helped Expose Larry Nassar

• Author: Caroline Rothstein
• Pages: 9-10

Opening

Statements

PHOTOGRAPHS BY AP PHOTO /PAUL SANCYA, SHUTTERSTOCK; COURTESY OF CORNWELL & STEVENS

EDITED BY LIANE JACKSON

LIANE.JACKSON@AMERICANBAR.ORG

JUNE 2018 ABA JOURNAL || 9

The Behind-the-

Scenes Case That

Helped Expose

Larry Nassar

A story of lawsuits, leads

and old-fashioned legwork

THE SENTENCING OF DR. L ARRY NASSAR for

molesting young gymna sts and USA Gymnastics’

alleged complicity rivet ed the nation for months.

More than 150 girls and women read impa ct state-

ments during Nassar’s sentencing. But it was a lesser-

known lawsuit and par tnership between investigative

journalists a nd lawyers that helped crack the case w ide

open and make it front-page news.

In 2016, Indianapolis Star reporter Ma risa

Kwiatkowski was worki ng on a story about sexual

abuse when she received a tip urging her to c ontact

W. Brian Cornwell of Cornwell & Stevens in Sava nnah,

Georgia. C ornwell, along with Je rey La sky of Lasky

Cooper Law in Savanna h, was working on a Jane Doe

sexual abuse ca se against former USA Gymnastic s

coach Bill McCabe. Du ring discovery, the attorneys

had received 54 complaints ag ainst other gymnast ics

coaches, which the judge had sea led.

Kwiatkowski immediat ely fl ew to

Georgia, where she re viewed records

in the case, and bega n tracking USA

Gymnastic s’ vast ecosystem of sexual

misconduct complaints. “For our inves-

tigations,” Kwiatkowski says, “we rely on

documentation and evidence, so cou rt

records can be a rea lly important part

of that process.”

The newspaper hired part ners S. Derek

Bauer and Ian K. Byrn side of Baker &

Hostetler in Atlanta to g ain full access to

the sealed documents, including t he 54 coaching

complaints. Bauer and Byrnside reg ularly represent

media companies in Firs t Amendment, public records

and courtroom ac cess cases, and they fi led a motion

to have the records unsea led. Still, no one predicted

the magnitude of what would happen next .

While awaiting a hear ing on its motion, the Star

published its fi r st USA Gymnastics story,

“Out of Balance,” in August 2016, reveali ng

the organization’s policy of not reporting

all sexual abus e allegations against its

coaches. Af ter the piece went live, two

women contacted the newspaper a nd

shared their exper iences of abuse at the

hands of team doct or Nassar. The story

exploded from there. On Sept. 1 2, 2016,

the Star published its fi rst detailed

account of the Nassar a llegations.

“This case i s a textbook example of how

Larry Nassar

W. Brian Cornwell