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Six months after discovering he was never legally adopted, Michael Oher formally petitioned to remove the conservatorship Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy control over him.
In the petition he filed Monday in Shelby County, Tennessee probate court, Oher called the realization “painful.”
Taken in by the Tuohy family while experiencing poverty and navigating the foster care system, Oher became a first-round draft pick after attending the Tuohys alma mater, Ole Miss. His life story was made into the 2009 blockbuster movie “The Blind Side” after the 2006 Michael Lewis book of the same name.
In his filing, Oher alleged that the family deceived him of his legal family status and that they exploited his life for financial gain. He requested that they stop using his name and likeness in addition to back pay for any money he may be owed.
“If the allegations in there are true, they suggest a series of failures,” Syracuse University law professor Nina Kohn told USA TODAY Sports.
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What is a conservatorship?
A conservatorship is a legal process for children or adults who cannot take care of themselves and rely on a court-appointed person or persons to conduct their affairs.
Essentially, someone who the court determines could not take care of themselves.
“It’s pretty unusual to find a conservatorship for somebody who is able-bodied and able-minded,” said Nick Soltman, a business and entertainment litigator based in California.
Conservatorships typically affect young adults with intellectual disabilities. Disability rights groups are pushing back on what was once seen as a commonality in their lives. The legal maneuver also impacts those with mental health issues or the elderly.
Conservatorships are not an arrangement between two people, Kohn said. They are the court removing decision-making power from an individual, and without sufficient court oversight, “you have a situation ripe for abuse and exploitation.”
Did the Tuohys adopt Michael Oher?
Court records show the conservatorship being signed Aug. 9, 2004, three months after Oher turned 18 and a few months before he began playing college football at Ole Miss. The filing never mentions disabilities or circumstances that would necessitate Oher entering a conservatorship.
“These findings, today, would not be adequate to impose a conservatorship,” Kohn said. “There is no basis for conservatorship. Full stop.”
Even if that was not the case in 2004, the court has a responsibility of ongoing oversight and retains the authority to terminate a conservatorship.
“There’s a lot of reason to be tremendously concerned about the court here,” Kohn said.
Sean Touhy told the Daily Memphian on Monday that the conservatorship was a way to protect Oher and Ole Miss from potential NCAA violations.
“They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was actually part of the family,” Touhy told the Daily Memphian. “I sat Michael down and told him, ‘If you’re planning to go to Ole Miss – or even considering Ole Miss – we think you have to be part of the family. This would do that, legally.’ We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn’t adopt over the age of 18. The only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court.”
Michael Oher net worth: How did he sign NFL contracts while under conservatorship?
Over seven NFL seasons, Oher made more than $30 million, according to Spotrac.
Potentially, Kohn said, none of the contracts were legally binding due to the existing conservatorship. Having a conservator doesn’t prohibit a person from signing something.
“The question would be whether that signing would have been binding,” Kohn said, “not whether he could have.”
“At no point did the Tuohys inform Michael that they would have ultimate control of all his contracts, and as a result Michael did not understand that if the Conservatorship was granted, he was signing away his right to contract for himself,” the petition said.
‘The Blind Side’: How much did Touhys make off movie?
Speaking on “Barstool Radio,” Sean Tuohy Jr. said he made roughly $60,000 to $70,000 in recent years off his likeness in the blockbuster film that netted more than $300 million at the box office.
In his petition, Oher alleged that the Tuohy family had an agreement that allowed them 2.5% of the “defined net proceeds.”
“I have a hard time believing that the 2.5% of defined net proceeds have paid out millions of dollars, the way it’s alleged,” Soltman said.
That isn’t because the movie flopped, Soltman, said, but that ‘defined net proceeds’ is often a limited definition that is rarely lucrative. Barring some subsequent agreement changing the nature of “defined net proceeds,” he’d be surprised if it was worth millions.
“I cannot stress how unusual it is for that type of contingent compensation to ever pay out,” Soltman said.
Sean Tuohy Sr. told the Daily Memphian “it’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children.”
Lawyer representing both Touhy family, Oher in Fox deal ‘big, red flag’
The petition also alleged that in the contract between 20th Century Fox and the Touhys and Oher, the attorney listed to receive contract and payment notices for Oher was Debbie Branan, a close friend of the family who is also the attorney of record in the conservatorship for Oher.
“That should raise a big, red flag,” said Kohn, noting the conflict of interest.
“Here, where you have somebody who appears to be – again, only if these allegations are true – representing both the petitioners for a conservatorship and the person who they’re petitioning for conservatorship over, that’s a bit concerning,” Kohn said. “Because it’s a little bit like representing the defendant and plaintiff in the same lawsuit.”
Branan is also listed as the attorney for the family’s “Make It Happen Foundation.”
Court ‘asleep at the wheel’
In the 19 years of the conservatorship, the petition alleges there has been no accounting filed in reference to payments Oher may have received.
“That suggests the court has been asleep at the wheel,” Kohn said.
She added: “If in fact, there had been no accountings provided, that is damning and not just on the conservators, but the court system.”
The lack of accounting should have triggered the court to look into the matter, Kohn said, although practically, courts almost always wait until a person petitions.
Remaining questions, pressure on family, Michael Lewis
Sean Tuohy Jr. said during his “Barstool Radio” appearance that things started to change between Oher and the family sometime after his playing days.
“I think it puts pressure on the family,” Soltman said.
One question that Oher will have to answer is the gap between the discovery of the conservatorship and the petition to have it removed.
And one person who will now be facing some heat is Michael Lewis, the renowned author. Lewis apparently gave the Tuohy family half of his share from the movie, Tuohy Jr. said. Lewis and Sean Tuohy Sr. were high school classmates and appeared together in March 2023 at the New Orleans Book Festival.
“It doesn’t look great for Michael Lewis,” Soltman said, “given his relationship with the Tuohys.”
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