Moyes Attorneys Apologize For Leak

((HT: Arizona Republic/Watters))

Attorneys for Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes ((pictured, thanks Arizona Republic file)) say they are sorry for accidentally releasing confidential information related to a bidder's negotiations with Glendale, but they call the city's proposed remedies excessive.

Attorneys for the city on Monday filed a contempt of court motion against Moyes in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, seeking four remedies to the breach:

• Postponement of the Aug. 5 Glendale-only auction of the team until September.
• A ruling by the court that the team should play the 2009-10 season in Glendale.
• Removal of Moyes and his attorneys from the sale process "so that there can be a fair and reasonable shot at getting a sale in Glendale."
• Monetary sanctions against Moyes and his attorney.

"The relief the city seeks is vindictive, overly broad and now largely moot," attorneys with Jennings, Strouss and Salmon wrote in their response on Thursday.

In the court filing, the attorneys said the first two issues already have been resolved and that the removal of Moyes would be excessive, because he did not review nor was he involved in the mistaken filing.

Jennings, Strouss and Salmon said any monetary sanction of the firm would be left to the court's discretion, although sanctions against Moyes would be inappropriate because of his lack of involvement in the filing.

The filing in question was made by attorney Peter Sorenson on the afternoon of July 31.

In an appendix that Sorenson said he meant to file under seal, or confidentially, he referred to a request by Chicago sports mogul Jerry Reinsdorf, who wants to buy the team and keep it in the Valley, that Glendale create a special taxing district around Jobing.com Arena that would provide as much as $23 million next fiscal year through a surcharge on retail sales.

The document added that Reinsdorf sought an escape-without-penalty clause if the team continued to lose money.

Glendale blasted the release of sensitive negotiations, saying it had the potential to drive bidders away from the table. Further, Glendale officials said, the City Council never agreed to those terms.

Sorenson said he learned of his mistake when The Arizona Republic called Moyes' team with questions about the document he filed with the court and which was published on the court's Web site.

Sorenson said he realized his mistake and had it removed from public view within 90 minutes.

"With regret, counsel admits that, through this unfortunate oversight, it has violated the terms of the confidentiality order and may have caused inconvenience and difficulties for the court and other parties," Thursday's filing said.