UK, Gillispie lawyers ask for another extension in lawsuit filings

Herald-Leader Staff Report

Lawyers for the University of Kentucky and former basketball coach Billy Gillispie, who are fighting over the coach's firing in March, have asked a judge to postpone their next round of court filings for the second time.

Gillipie's attorneys were supposed to file, by Friday, a response to UK's motion to dismiss Gillispie's breach of contract lawsuit, which is pending in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas where Gillispie lives.

But Gillispie's lawyers had planned to use information from depositions of UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. and Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart in the response. Because of scheduling conflicts, those depositions were bumped from Sept. 21 to Oct. 15.

In a joint motion filed in federal court in Dallas late Thursday, attorneys for both sides asked the judge to bump the deadline for Gillispie's response to Oct. 30 and UK's counterargument to Nov. 20.

Gillispie says he should be paid a $6 million buyout as his hiring agreement stipulated for being fired two years into a seven-year contract. UK officials contend Gillispie was operating on a memo of understanding, not a contract.