Summary: The private law school in San Diego has been struggling for the last five years, but that doesn’t appear to be ending as the school now prepares for trial.
Most lawsuits brought by former-students against their schools get tossed by judges, but the complaint by four former Thomas Jefferson School of Law students was good enough for a judge to let the lawsuit proceed. The students claim the law school misrepresented their post-graduation employment numbers.
The lawsuit for false advertising was first made in 2011 by the graduates. They claim the private law school in San Diego used fake data on employment outcomes after graduation to entice students to attend the school. The graduates wanted restitution for being deceived about their job prospects since they were still struggling and swamped with debt.
Thomas Jefferson is fighting back against the students, claiming the students are exaggerating how much they relied on the figures to decide whether to attend the law school or not since they were the only law school that accepted the students.
Superior Court Judge Joel M. Pressman didn’t buy that argument: “The fact that TJSL was the only school accepting plaintiffs does not render the employment statistics immaterial. Plaintiffs still had a choice in accepting and attending TJSL.”
Thomas Jefferson will now a face a trial. Applications at the school have fallen 50 percent since 2011. The law school had reduced staff but was still forced to restructure its debt after missing a bond payment deadline in 2014. The school was also added to a government list of schools facing scrutiny for their finances.
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2016/01/07/law-school-accused-of-duping-students-to-face-trial/
Photo: onlawyering.com