http://www.tampabay.com/sports/college/article1200845.ece

"It would be a mistake for anybody to assume that Paterno is out of the woods from a civil standpoint, and probably from a criminal standpoint as well," said Wil Florin, the Palm Harbor attorney who represented Jim Leavitt in his wrongful termination suit against USF last year. "You have a local grand jury that's still in session, and attorney general who was very specific in terms of how she barks her language (saying Paterno and other Penn State administrators) are not targets at this time."

Florin compared Penn State's position in this case to what the Catholic Church has faced in civil suits from the families of child victims of sexual abuse from priests and other church leaders. Florin said the legal vulnerability comes from RICO, or Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, laws, which were intended for cases involving organized crime but have been interpreted to include any group that conspires to allow illegal activity to occur.

"Penn State has liability, and all those individuals — the vice president, the athletic director, the president, Paterno, they all could find themselves in a RICO lawsuit," Florin said. "What happened with the Catholic Church is pretty clear. They knew what was going on, and in order to protect the institution, they kept it quiet. It may have been to protect individuals, but probably the bigger part of it was to protect the reputation of the institution, and that looks like that's what's going on here."

Other legal experts have addressed the possible criminal aspects of Paterno and other Penn State officials being aware that a crime may have been committed and not notifying police. Michael McCann, a sports law professor at Vermont Law School, wrote on SI.com that Paterno's testimony before a grand jury could leave him open to perjury charges, or even obstruction of justice.

"While Paterno has thus far escaped these criminal charges, his statements and behavior suggest that he remains vulnerable to them," McCann wrote. "That is particularly evident when considering troubling inconsistencies between Paterno's testimony to the grand jury that investigated Sandusky and the testimony of Penn State assistant Mike McQueary."

Paterno might be clear from obstruction charges due to statute of limitations laws in Pennsylvania, but those wouldn't exempt him from perjury charges, since his grand jury testimony took place within the last year, McCann noted. New victims and witnesses could surface as the story continues to dominate national headlines, and McCann wrote that other Penn State officials who are already facing charges could implicate others in exchange for favorable treatment in their own sentencing.

Florin said the threat of litigation plays a role in swift decisions to remove university officials from their jobs, and the university's Board of Trustees may not be done in that regard. They now are expected to know everything the public knows, and to allow Paterno to continue to work in his job implies a toleration of his actions. Paterno announced he is resigning at the end of the season, but Florin believes he won't even take the field for Saturday's final home game against Nebraska.

"I can't imagine any lawyers that are advising Penn State telling them anything other than 'These guys have to go,' " Florin said. "I would be shocked if that doesn't happen here."