The University of Michigan has paid $11.5 million to the law firm hired to investigate the conduct of former head football coach Sherrone Moore and the wider culture of the Wolverines’ athletics department, according to invoices and university statements.
The Chicago-based firm Jenner & Block was retained on November 13, 2025, to examine what the university described at the time as an “inappropriate relationship” between Moore and his executive assistant, Paige Shiver. The investigation is believed to have concluded only last month.
In March 2026 alone, the firm charged the university more than $2 million. Two invoices obtained by The Detroit News show charges of $1,887,708.37 and $172,339.50. The total cost is expected to rise further as the probe continued into the spring.
Paul Corliss, Michigan’s assistant vice president for public affairs and internal communications, said in February that the university was making “significant investments in athletics” and that the investigation was “being resourced to help strengthen our athletics program moving forward.” He described the work as involving “two related but distinct efforts: a review concerning Sherrone Moore’s conduct and a broader assessment of the culture within the athletic department.”
The broader assessment grew after Shiver came forward about her yearslong relationship with Moore. It now includes an examination of how Moore’s dismissal was handled and the wider environment inside an athletics department that has faced multiple controversies in recent years. Those include the sign-stealing scandal under former coach Jim Harbaugh, federal charges against former co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, the suspension and later firing of men’s basketball coach Juwan Howard, the non-renewal of ice hockey coach Mel Pearson amid allegations of a “toxic environment,” and the $490 million settlement with more than 1,000 individuals who alleged abuse by former university doctor Robert Anderson.
Paige Shiver’s account of the affair and its aftermath
Shiver, 32, has described her relationship with Moore as beginning in January 2022, when she was an intern, and said Moore had “complete control” over her emotions and career. She characterised the affair as an “open secret” within the athletic department.
In a bombshell interview with ABC last month, Shiver revealed she became pregnant during the affair but was forced to terminate the pregnancy over health concerns. She said she was already pregnant when she learned she was suffering from Pompe disease, a rare, inherited lysosomal storage disorder that weakens muscle. Doctors feared for her safety. “Multiple doctors and experts told me that it wouldn’t be right or healthy for me to keep the baby,” she told ABC. Moore, a 40-year-old married father, urged her to terminate the pregnancy. “[Moore] said you have to do what’s right for your body,” Shiver recalled.
Shiver informed the university about the affair on December 10, 2025. Moore was fired “for cause” by Athletic Director Warde Manuel that same day. Hours later, Shiver told ABC, Moore barged into her apartment near campus. “All of a sudden, I hear footsteps, and they’re getting closer and louder, and I’m like ‘C**p!’ and so I run to my door to try to lock it,” she said. “He barges in, and he’s standing like this close to me, and he said, ‘You ruined my life. Why would you do this to me?'” She said she backed away as he followed her. Asked if she feared for her life, she replied: “Oh my gosh, yes. He’s 6ft4, and he comes in with his hood up, looking down at me, saying, I ruined his life, crying. And then [he] starts coming at me, and I tell him to leave, that he’s not supposed to be here. He’s not he’s not listening to me. And then he starts grabbing butter knives.”
Moore fled the scene but was arrested soon after near Shiver’s apartment. He was initially charged with felony home invasion, stalking, and breaking and entering. Those charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement last month. In exchange, Moore pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of trespassing and malicious use of a telecommunications device in a relationship. Judge J. Cedric Simpson sentenced him to 18 months’ probation, with suspended terms of 180 days and 30 days in prison, meaning Moore will not serve jail time if he complies with the conditions of his probation.
Shiver believes Moore should have faced harsher consequences. “I think he should have gotten more punishment for what he did,” she told ABC. She also pointed the finger at university officials, claiming they were aware of her relationship with Moore. Asked if the school had a moral obligation to intervene, she emphatically agreed. “He controlled everything that was going on in my life, and they didn’t do anything about it,” she said.
In a statement to ABC, a university spokesperson said the school “acted promptly to terminate Moore and that it is committed to ensuring a professional and respectful workplace for all members of its community.”
Attorneys for Shiver have indicated that a civil lawsuit against Moore and potentially the university remains a possibility, despite the resolution of the criminal case, raising what they described as “urgent and troubling questions” about oversight and accountability within the athletic programme.
Moore, who served as Michigan’s head coach from January 2024 until his firing, had previously been offensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh and played a key role in the 2023 national championship win. Harbaugh, who hired Moore as a tight ends coach in 2018 and endorsed him as successor, commented after the firing that he was “still processing that.”
