Yankees-Fighting Lawyer Is Worth Rooting ForBy David L. Yas
Lawyers Weekly, January 12, 2000You might have already heard about this Boston lawyer living a fantasy that many of us locals have. He's taking on the New York Yankees. And so far he's kicking some Bronx butt.
It happens that attorney K. William Kyros, Lawyers Weekly's own law-firm Web site columnist, got a call from a confused Yankees fan recently.
The fan, Brian McKiernan of Queens, had innocently registered a Web site domain name for his business, an answering service for nurses. At the time, September of 1998, the mighty Yanks were on their way to a championship and one of the greatest seasons in hardball history. With baseball on the brain, McKiernan casually asked the domain service if "newyorkyankees.com" was available. Astonishingly, it was.
McKiernan gleefully registered for the URL with the intent of starting a site for Yankees fans.
Enter the evil empire of Lord George Steinbrenner and company. Though the Yankees' cyber-home was already "yankees.com," apparently the team wanted all of its bases covered.
So the team offered to buy the domain name from McKiernan, sending him a big packet o' papers to sign and a measly $450 check which is roughly how much the Yankees make off a family of four who visits Yankee Stadium for one game and skips dessert.
That's when McKiernan called Kyros, who is fast establishing himself as a legal Net guru around here.
"He wanted to know what his rights were," recalls Kyros.
By now many of us are familiar with the concept of cyber-squatting. Register for, say, trump.com, then call Don Trump and ask for a mill or two for the rights to the site. (Don't get any ideas; The Don has it covered by now.)
According to Kyros, some cyber-scoundrel registered for 17 misspellings of "barnesandnoble.com" in order to rake in some quick cash.
In order to stop such lunacy, Congress enacted the Anti-Cyber Piracy Act about a month ago. McKiernan had not accepted the Yanks' generous $450 windfall so the team got an idea: sue this guy attack him legally like a New York bleacher creature attacking a $6.50 beer and an $8 plate of nachos.
But before they filed the complaint, Yankee lawyers, apparently fancying themselves the Bronx Bombers of the legal world, tried to impress McKiernan with their brand of hardball, saying things like "serious problems" would arise for the fan if he didn't surrender the site.
"They were pretty strident, very aggressive," says Kyros.
In fact, the Boston lawyer says he's learning a lot about baseball's hierarchy in dealing with the Yankees and the scary "billion-dollar behemoth" that is Major League Baseball. (Fans of "The Simpsons" will recall an episode where young Bart, in a Ritalin-induced paranoia, thought MLB satellites were secretly compiling data on him. Of course, he turned out to be correct.)
Kyros by now had taken McKiernan as a client. (The Yankees "weren't thrilled that he had a lawyer," says Kyros. Imagine the nerve of the guy to ring up his own attorney after a SWAT team of Yankee lawyers practically attacked him with baseball bats.)
Then the New York legal team made an interesting move. After speaking with Kyros they sent McKiernan another in a series of terse letters which included the phrase, "according to your attorney ..."
Nice move, guys. It's been a while since I took that MPRE exam, but isn't there a little ethical rule about not contacting parties represented by counsel? But this regulation apparently sailed over the lawyers' heads like another Chuck Knoblauch parachute throw to first destined for the box seats. (Non-baseball types, I apologize for the inside joke. Suffice it to say that it's one of the few things Red Sox fans can tease Yankee fans about after they've won their third stinking World Series in four years.)
There were some settlement talks that went nowhere fast. Then Yankee lawyers called Kyros one day and said his client had one hour to agree to give up the Web site (with nothing in return) or they would sue. Kyros said he didn't even think he could get in touch with his client on such short notice. Too bad for you, said the Yankees. The next day, Christmas Eve, the complaint was filed. Kyros told the New York Post it was "Merry Christmas, Steinbrenner style."
Let's get this straight. The Yankees, one of the hugest moneymakers in all of sport, offer one of their fans $450 for newyorkyankees.com. After bullying him into taking the deal doesn't work, they apparently commit ethical violations and then sue the poor guy on Christmas Eve.
Who exactly is running the Yankees' PR department, George Costanza?
Worse yet, they may not have a leg to stand on in court. Kyros points out that his client was not a "squatter" because he bought the site with the good-faith intention of starting a fan Web site.
"The law is designed to combat those who extort money," he says. "This guy didn't do that." And the new piracy law may not even apply retroactively, says Kyros.
Why are the Yanks making such a stink about this instead of quietly settling it? It baffles Kyros, who notes that his opponent's legal fees must already be more than 50 times the silly $450 which remains all they have offered McKiernan.
Well, for one, the Yanks are clearly proud of their existing Internet site. What does Kyros who himself designs Web sites think of the Yankees product?
"It's what we call 'busy,'" he says, and he's being kind. It looks like a malfunctioning pinball machine and is about as useful as one. Don't try to access the chat room, which I couldn't get to work, or the "site map," which is clunky at best.
But the site's "1999 Post-Season In Review" provides some nice insight for Red Sox fans. (For those that missed it, the Yanks took care of the Sox in the playoffs, four games to one, despite Pedro Martinez outclassing Roger Clemens, and with the help of umpires apparently hallucinating from inhalation of assorted New York fumes.)
Yankees.com describes the key moment of the Red Sox series as such: "A botched call cost Boston an extra base-runner, and quite possibly the game. After a lead-off single, Jose Offerman was called out at second on a fielder's choice, even though Chuck Knoblauch clearly dropped the ball. It didn't matter - after a futile argument, the Sox grounded into a double play. ... After the game, the ump admitted that he blew the call at second base but it didn't help Boston one bit."
Huh? I can't follow the New York logic here, but I think it means: 1) The Yankees always cheat; 2) They know it; and 3) They don't care.
Which brings us back to those ethics-bending Yankee lawyers.
Could it be that when a Boston lawyer got involved they felt the need to puff out their chests in the traditional bluster of accomplished slugger Reggie Jackson and current annoyance Jim Leyritz?
Kyros, it turns out, grew up idolizing Jim Rice and rooting for the Sox. "I remember 1978," he says. "I was totally into it."
He signed several letters to the Yankee lawyers "William Kyros, Esq./Red Sox fan."
Is there a part of Kyros that enjoys taking on the Yanks the team that consistently broke his heart as a child? Sure, he admits.
All I can say is, stick it to 'em, Bill. Get 'em back for Bucky Dent, who hit the Sox-killing homer in '78 and then went on to play the love interest of a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader in a shameful TV movie. Punish them for the Reggie bar, which contained way too many peanuts.
Let them know how creepy it is that Hillary Clinton says she is a Yankees fan. And for all of the other reasons on yankeehater.com. (Check it out if you have the chance. Good stuff.)
And keep signing "Red Sox fan" after your name. I bet that drives George nuts.