The University of Michigan has already been charged $177,360 by a New York law firm hired earlier this spring to investigate controversial Slack messages allegedly written by Regent Jordan Acker, according to a letter of engagement obtained by The Detroit News.
The attorneys with New York-based Patterson Belknap, Joshua Goldberg and Lauren Potter, who were retained in late April to investigate messages Acker wrote about a Democratic strategist and a student, bill $1,746 and $1,525.50 per hour, respectively. These rates reflect a 10% discount, the letter said.
The law firm has already done almost 140 hours of work in the investigation, an invoice shows. All details about what work attorneys have done so far has been redacted.
Acker was not immediately available for comment.
Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs and Internal Communications Paul Corliss said the investigation was initially going to be handled internally, but the decision was made by the board to retain an outside firm instead.
Corliss said the university had no further comment on the matter.
Acker’s purported Slack messages included obscene comments about a Democratic strategist and lewd comments he made about a female UM student. After her parent contacted Acker regarding her health and a string of urinary tract infections she’d had, he purportedly sent a photo of her in the chat and said, “Like, maybe he doesn’t realize that his daughter f—-, apparently a lot.”
Acker told The Detroit News in April after the allegations were first reported by The Guardian that they were “ridiculous” and “fake.” Acker’s attorney, Ethan Holtz, said in a statement that Acker “has never been on Slack” and that the messages contained elements that appeared to be “doctored.”
Anyone with information about the messages is asked to email UMconcerns@pbwt.com or call (212) 336-2083.
Regent Chair Mark Bernstein did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday afternoon. He said in a message posted to the university’s communications website last month that the “disturbing messages” would be “thoroughly, fairly, and expeditiously” investigated.
Costly investigation into university athletics
Patterson Belknap was retained amid a separate investigation into the university’s athletic department, that ended up costing the university at least $11.5 million. The investigation has since concluded, sources not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to The News, but the findings have not yet been made public.
The investigation into the school’s athletic department, led by Chicago-based law firm Jenner & Block, was sparked by allegations that former head football coach Sherrone Moore was having an inappropriate relationship with his executive assistant. Moore was fired Dec. 10, 2025, after his executive assistant, Paige Shiver, came forward.
After Shiver came forward and Moore was fired, the investigation expanded to look into concerns over how Moore was fired, the broader culture of the athletic department that allowed the relationship to continue without oversight and multiple other scandals within the department over the last few years.
satwood@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Investigation into UM regent’s alleged Slack messages costs over $177K so far
Reporting by Sarah Atwood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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