Jim Cooney is crossing over to the other side. The lawyer, who previously defended lacrosse player Reade Seligmann in the Duke rape scandal and generally caused the school endless stress, is now standing up for the university.
 

Cooney is helping defend the school and golf coach O.D. Vincent III in a lawsuit with Andrew Giuliani. The son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is suing for financial relief after Vincent kicked him off the golf team.
 

The younger Giuliani claims that the coach violated a contract that brought the golfer to Duke and thus had him paying $200,000 in tuition and fees. Right, because now he’s not going to get anything for all that money – not a highly-regarded degree, or an education, or anything useful.
 

This lawsuit is bound to get messy. Giuliani may have the power of papa behind him (though he’s ask daddy to stay out of the matter), but Cooney is a major legal player. When the case against the LAX players was dropped, it was Duke feeling the heat for suspending them in the first place.
 

So who will prevail in this Durham duel?