James Hird and the Essendon board are to blame for refusing to do a deal to avoid years of pain and turmoil for the game, the Melbourne legal community's Mr Fix-It Leon Zwier has said.

Essendon Football Club is facing a legal tsunami from the 34 current and former players suspended for the 2016 season, which could financially cripple the club and hit the AFL. Mr Zwier, the high-profile lawyer who advised the Melbourne Football Club on "tanking" allegations, and works on the country's biggest legal dilemmas, blames the board for being fans of Hird and the club, rather than taking a pragmatic approach and accepting discounted early penalties, as accepted by the NRL's Cronulla players in 2014.