Jim Harbaugh’s Attorney Appears to Have Plagiarized a Section of a Letter to the Big Ten from a Michigan Fan Blog. Eerily Similar Letter From Jim Harbaugh’s Lawyer To Michigan Fan Blog Post – The Spun: What’s Trending In The Sports World Today.
According to ESPN’s Heather Dinich, the Big Ten is set to issue potential disciplinary action against Michigan regarding sign-stealing allegations against the football program on Friday.
That revelation will be in response to a 10-page letter submitted by coach Jim Harbaugh’s attorney in response to the Big Ten’s charge that the Wolverines broke the conference’s sportsmanship standard by stealing signals from upcoming opponents through in-person scouting. It’s unclear whether Harbaugh was aware of the sign-stealing plot, but the conference could still opt to punish him for what happened while he was in charge.
One Michigan fan, however, observed that several sections of the letter by attorney Tom Mars were almost verbatim copied from a post on the Michigan athletics fan.
“Parts of pages 4 and 5 of Mars’ letter are plagiarized verbatim from my diary post the other day, right on down to the language I italicized in B10 Rule 32,” “No worries — the point of my post was to contribute to the cause, and it appears to have worked!”
Although the fan appears not to mind his remarks being nearly word for word reproduced in Mars’s letter, it is noteworthy that a high-priced attorney’s office would appear to plagiarize a blog post nearly word for word (“unambiguous,” “no exceptions,” “pressured to act quickly”).
Should the user get a part of the attorney’s fees if Michigan successfully fights off Big Ten discipline? That is not what the fan is requesting. He claims he’ll be content just to help defend his favorite football team.