By Scott A. Andresen
As the United Football League continues to be the professional football equivalent of Bernie Lomax, the league took yet another legal hit in its ongoing existence in a state of bardo[1] on October 15, 2012 when notable coach Marty Schottenheimer filed suit against league founder Bill Hambrecht and other unnamed parties in San Francisco Superior Court.
In his one-count complaint for breach of contract, Schottenheimer alleges that Hambrecht and others affiliated with the UFL contacted him in early 2011 to be the head coach and general manager of the Virginia Destroyers UFL team. Schottenheimer subsequently entered into a two-year contract whereby he was to be paid $970,000 during his first year of employment and $1,000,000 in the second, as well as being entitled to reimbursement of business expenses incurred in the course of performing his duties. Schottenheimer was further entitled to a bonus of $50,000 if his team played in the UFL championship game, and an additional bonus of $100,000 if his team won the championship game.
Although Schottenheimer agreed to enter into a two-year agreement with the Virginia Destroyers team, he (rightfully, it would now appear) had serious concerns about the financial stability and ongoing viability of the league. To that end, Schottenheimer and Hambreach allegedly agreed that Hambrecht would personally guarantee payments due to Schottenheimer as a third-party guarantor during the first year of Schottenheimer’s two-year contract with the team, regardless of whether the UFL became insolvent or ceased to operate.
During the 2011 season, Schottenheimer’s Virginia Destroyers team enjoyed great success and won the UFL championship in November 2011. However, it is alleged that the team failed to pay Schottenheimer much of what he owed pursuant to his contract to the tune of $1,100,000 in salary, $150,000 in bonus compensation and $100,000 in expenses incurred on behalf of the team for hotel costs and otherwise advanced by Schottenheimer.
Although the team acknowledged that Schottenheimer was due all sums demanded, it informed Schottenheimer that it was financially unable to live up to its contractual obligations. Schottenheimer then made demand upon Hambrecht as the personal guarantor of the team’s obligations. Hambrecht made no payments in response thereto, leading to the initiation of the lawsuit.
In Schottenheimer’s Prayer for Relief, he requests general damages, special damages, reasonable attorney’s fees, costs of suit, interest at the maximum legal rate on all sums awarded, and such other relief as the court deems just and proper.
Hambrecht has until November 14, 2012 in which to file an answer to the complaint. A case management conference is set for March 20, 2013, with the filing and service of a case management statement required no later than March 5, 2013.
Scott A. Andresen is the principal of Andresen & Associates. He can be reached at scott@andresenlawfirm.com Research assistance for this article was provided by Stephanie Horner, Marquette University Law School
[1] Prior to the initiation of the Schottenheimer lawsuit, a collection of UFL parties (i.e., the United Football League, UFL, UFL Management LLC, Bill Hambrecht, Paul Pelosi and Hambrecht 1980 Revocable Trust) have had not less than 27 separate actions initiated against them since May 2010— Most (if not all) of which arise out of failure to pay amounts contractually due.
