On March 30, 1993, it was announced that Gil Stein, who at the time had been president of the National Hockey League for nine months but had been bypassed for the new job of commissioner in favour of Gary Bettman, would be inducted into the Hall of Fame. There were immediate allegations that he had engineered his election through manipulation of the hall's board of directors. Due to these allegations, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman hired two independent lawyers, Arnold Burns and Yves Fortier, to lead an investigation. They concluded that Stein had "improperly manipulated the process" and "created the false appearance and illusion" that his nomination was the idea of Bruce McNall. They concluded that Stein pressured McNall to nominate him and had refused to withdraw his nomination when asked to do so by Bettman. There was a dispute over McNall's role and Stein was "categorical in stating that the idea was Mr. McNall's". They recommended that Stein's selection be overturned, but it was revealed Stein had decided to turn down the induction before their announcement.