MEDIA CONTACT: Patricia Tremmel at 847-491-4892 or p-tremmel@northwestern.edu

February 1, 2005

MLB President to Address Good Sports, Bad Law

CHICAGO --- Robert A. DuPuy, president and chief operating officer of Major League Baseball (MLB), will present Northwestern University School of Law’s 2005 Pope & John Lecture on Professionalism, titled “Good Sports Make Bad Law.”

Part of the distinguished Pope & John Lecture on Professionalism series, the talk will take place at 6 p.m. Feb. 1 at the School of Law, 357 E. Chicago Ave. The lecture is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow.

DuPuy is responsible for all phases of baseball’s central offices, including licensing, sponsorship, international, broadcasting, publishing, marketing, public relations, government relations, baseball operations, legal affairs, finance, baseball’s internet operations and the labor relations committee.

He has been involved in most of Major League Baseball’s legal issues since 1989, when he was brought in as outside legal counsel. He negotiated the settlement of the collusion grievance in 1990 and served as the principal outside counsel to the commissioner and the executive council from 1992 until 1998, when Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig hired him as the MLB executive vice president of administration and chief legal officer.

In that capacity, DuPuy oversaw the consolidation of the American and National Leagues into the central offices, the consolidation of MLB’s office in Washington, D.C. and the formation of Major League Baseball Advanced Media, as its initial chief executive officer.

Previously, DuPuy was a partner at Foley and Lardner, one of the nation’s largest law firms. He served on the management committee and as chairman of the firm’s professional standards committee. He is a long-time member and past chairman of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Professional Ethics Committee. He has taught legal ethics and professional responsibility at Northwestern University School of Law, the University of Wisconsin Law School and Marquette University Law School and served as a long-time faculty member of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.

DuPuy holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a juris doctor degree from Cornell Law School.

In  1991, the Chicago firm of Pope & John Ltd. established the Pope & John Lecture on Professionalism series at Northwestern University School of Law. Directed by Professor Steven Lubet, the series is part of the School of Law’s Program on Advocacy and Professionalism. The lectures focus on the many dimensions of a lawyer’s professional responsibility, including legal ethics, public service, professional civility, pro bono representation, and standards of conduct.