Representatives for Roger Clemens fired back at Brian McNamee's camp on Thursday after McNamee's lawyer called Clemens' vow to file a defamation suit against his client a "public relations ploy."
Joe Householder, a spokesman for Clemens' lawyer, Rusty Hardin, accused McNamee of avoiding being served papers.
"A process server has spent several hours over the last couple of days attempting to contact [McNamee] at his home," Householder told Andrew Marchand of 1050 ESPN Radio."It's also been sent to him by certified mail, which he hasn't picked up. We have left messages for both of his lawyers to see if they'll accept service and they have not called back as of yet.
"Bottom line, McNamee has avoided being served with this lawsuit as successfully as he has avoided telling the truth about Roger."
Earl Ward, a lawyer for McNamee, said earlier Thursday that his client has not been served papers and that he thought Clemens' camp might not follow through on its stated intention.
"We don't know if that defamation suit ... is a public relations ploy or if there is any real significance to it," Ward told Marchand. "We are waiting to be served. We are looking at our options on whether or not to counter-sue or to move that suit to a federal court."
When asked if there is reason to believe McNamee won't be served, Ward said:
"They filed it on a Sunday evening right before his [Monday] news conference. I thought it may have just been a public relations strategy. The lawsuit is really of no significance because if they never serve him it goes nowhere.
"You could file the papers and let it sit there and it sits out there like a press release."
McNamee was Clemens' trainer when the pitcher was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. Questioned by federal prosecutors last year, McNamee said he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone in 1998, 2000 and 2001.
Prosecutors had him repeat those charges to former Sen. George Mitchell's investigators, and since the Mitchell report was issued last month, Clemens has repeatedly and vehemently denied the allegations on three occasions, one of them an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" that aired on Sunday.
Ward told ESPN's T.J. Quinn on Monday that McNamee is determined to file a counter lawsuit against Clemens. Ward said he spoke to McNamee the morning after the 60 Minutes interview and said Clemens statements made on the program were "a total lie."