Judge in Mississippi Welfare Case Boots Brett Favre’s Lead Lawyer

In a scathing order handed down by a Mississippi judge, Brett Favre’s lead defense lawyer has lost the ability to represent the Hall of Fame quarterback.

Hinds County Circuit Court Judge E. Faye Peterson, who is presiding over the lawsuit to recover millions in misspent welfare funds, wrote that multiple recent filings by Favre’s legal team have had a “pattern and practice of delicate deception with ongoing misapplication of this State’s case law.” 

In her Thursday order, she revoked New York–based attorney Daniel Koevary’s admission to practice law in the case, and she demanded Koevary pay “costs and expenses” for the motions within 10 days. 

“The most recent actions and filings by counsel appear to have been designed to be dilatory and not necessary for the representation of his client,” Peterson wrote. “The motions presented herein were deliberately and tacitly designed to undermine the authority of the Court and demonstrate either a misunderstanding of the proper procedures and processes of the rules and the laws of the State of Mississippi or an effort to manufacture issues with the Judiciary.”
A message from Front Office Sports left with Koevary, who Peterson described as Favre’s “lead defense counsel,” was not immediately returned.

Peterson listed four motions filed by Favre’s defense team since May 20, which included a motion to vacate her order that mandated in-camera reviews. (These allow judges to evaluate sensitive information in private to determine whether the evidence should be used in the case.) Favre’s legal team has also requested multiple hearings “for matters unrelated to and not within the jurisdiction of this Court to resolve” in an “attempt to manufacture discord,” Peterson wrote. 

Favre is among more than 40 defendants in the Mississippi Department of Human Services’ lawsuit. Favre has denied any wrongdoing, and he has not been charged criminally. 

According to court documents, Favre is linked to about $8 million of misspent federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds. 

• Favre received $1.1 million in TANF funds from the state welfare department to make speeches and radio spots. According to court records, he recorded only one radio PSA that spanned less than 30 seconds. He has since repaid principal, although Mississippi State Auditor Shad White is seeking more than $700,000 in unpaid interest.
  
• Favre had a handshake promise to cover the costs of a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi. Instead, the USM Athletic Foundation received $5 million in TANF funds after Favre allegedly lobbied state officials and the head of a nonprofit to cover the costs of construction.
  
• About $2 million in TANF funds were allegedly funneled to Prevacus, a pharma company Favre was associated with that sought to develop two concussion treatments that never went to market. Favre was the largest investor in the company, according to an MDHS court filing.
  
• Favre also allegedly sought another $1.5 million to build an indoor football facility at Southern Miss to recruit Deion Sanders’s son. That project was not funded. 

Going forward, Peterson ordered that all future pleading on Favre’s behalf be “filed by local counsel and signed-off by local counsel.” Favre’s legal team includes Eric Herschmann, who worked as White House adviser to then President Donald Trump. Hattiesburg-based Michael J. Shemper is among Favre’s Mississippi attorneys. 

In another ruling Thursday, Peterson granted Favre’s motion to review an audit generated by an accountancy firm hired by Mississippi to examine the welfare scandal.