Lavely & Singer, the law firm for Union-Tribune owner Platinum Equity, as well as for Hollywood celebrities, helped bargain a deal that kept embarrassing details about Tiger Woods out of the media back in 2007, according to a story in today's (Dec. 18) Wall Street Journal. According to the Journal, the tabloid National Enquirer had photographs of a rendezvous between Tiger and a lady in an automobile. Woods was married at the time. The company that owns the Enquirer, National Media, also owns a magazine named Men's Fitness. According to the Journal, there was a deal, allegedly negotiated by Lavely & Singer, that the Enquirer would drop the story if Tiger would be interviewed for, and pose for, a cover story in Men's Fitness. American Media says the story is false, but asked if there was a deal to quash a story, the company's lawyer wouldn't comment. Lavely & Singer would not comment.

On December 8, the Journal reported that Lavely & Singer was working on a deal "that would pay Rachel Uchitel, a woman who has been alleged in published reports to have had an affair with Mr. Woods, in exchange for not talking to the media," said the Journal. A press conference she was allegedly to hold was canceled. Lavely & Singer refused to comment on that alleged episode, too.

Earlier this year, Lavely & Singer threatened the Reader with grave consequences if it printed details of sexual harassment lawsuits against Platinum that were a matter of public record. Lawyer Martin Singer then claimed that the Reader could not publish his threatening letter in any way. The Reader printed the story and Singer's letter in its entirety.