The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 President’s Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
    • Media
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 President’s Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
    • Media
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Media
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
      • Summit Sponsors
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Master Class 5.0 Trial Academy 2021
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

Student Suit Can Proceed Against Law School Over Inflated Job Prospects

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Larry Bodine
web-law-classroom

The law school said in national publications that 80.1% of all students received law-related jobs within nine months of graduation.

A California judge denied the bid by Thomas Jefferson School of Law (TJSL) to dismiss the case that accuses the school of falsifying post-graduation employment numbers to encourage students to enroll. San Diego Judge Joel Pressman stated there were still issues in the lawsuit that should be decided by a jury.

Four former students joined in the suit after not receiving law-related employment within the TJSL advertised nine months post-graduation.

The students alleged negligence, intentional fraud, negligent misrepresentation, among other claims.

Dismal Employment Prospects

The original complaint stated that Anna Alaburda sent out more than 150 resumes to law firms and practicing attorneys. Within three years, Alaburda only received one job offer that was less than desirable.

Meanwhile TJSL represented in national publications that 80.1% of all students received law-related jobs within nine months of graduation.

  • Nikki Nguyen left a career with Boeing Co. to attend law school, hopeful to have a successful career as a transactional attorney. One year after graduation, she still had not landed a job.
  • Clark Moffatt a 2006 graduate, was unable to secure a full time job after taking the Texas bar exam. According to Business Insider, Moffatt had to work as an Uber driver to support his family.

See Also: ABA: Should it be Unethical to Discriminate or Harass?

Law School Failed To Meet Its Burden

Based in San Diego, 1,120 students attend TJSL. It was founded in 1969 and is accredited by the ABA. According to the law professor blog The Faculty Lounge, only 28.8% of the Class of 2012 was employed in full-time, long-term positions requiring bar admission, ranking 192nd out of 197 law schools.

This motion was the fourth time the school asked the court to throw out the case, according to the San-Diego Tribune. All plaintiffs submitted statements declaring, “I would not have attended TJSL if I had known that it had inflated post-graduation employment statistics.”

TJSL denied inflating the numbers, stating that the plaintiffs are unable to present evidence showing the misrepresentations were material, substantial factor in their decision to attend TJSL.

The San Diego law school also argued employment numbers were not material to the plaintiff’s enrollment decision because the students were only admitted to the school, and the statistics were only one of many considerations to attend.

The judge disagreed, stating the plaintiffs still had a choice to attend TJSL and employment numbers do not need to be the sole determining factor in making a decision.

On the remaining motions, the judge ruled that the law school failed to meet its burden to show the figures were in fact true.

Instead of doing so, the only evidence the school presented was an affidavit from the school’s dean stating she was not aware of a time where the school misreported employment figures. The judge ruled this was insufficient to prove whether the information was accurate.

Several suits have been filed against law schools including Florida Costal, Hofstra Law, Cooley Law School, and DePaul University and have all been dismissed by state courts. This case this one of the first to proceed to trial.

This case is Alaburda v. Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Case No 37-2011-00091898-CU-FR-CTL, Superior Court of California, County of San Diego.

Plaintiffs are represented by Miller Barondness, LLP of Los Angeles, CA

Defendant is represented by Michael C. Sullivan of Paul, Plevin, Sullivan & Connaughton LLP, San Diego, CA.

Posted in Blog, Business Law

Comments are closed.

News Categories

Subscribe to Blog and VFJ via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog, the Voice for Justice and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Read about other Top Jury Verdicts

Intel Ordered to Pay a $2.2B Settlement in Patent Infringement Case

Intel Ordered to Pay a $2.2B Settlement in Patent Infringement Case

Intel was told to pay $2.18 billion after losing a patent-infringement trial over technology related to chip-making.Intel inf[Read More...]
What is Sexual Harassment?

What is Sexual Harassment?

Sexual Harassment Defined: Legally, sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the [Read More...]
Facebook Pays $650M to Settle a Privacy Dispute

Facebook Pays $650M to Settle a Privacy Dispute

WASHINGTON: A US federal judge has given final approval to Facebook's US$650 million payment to settle a privacy dispute betw[Read More...]
Pharmaceutical Giant Johnson & Johnson is Preparing $3.9B for Talc Settlements

Pharmaceutical Giant Johnson & Johnson is Preparing $3.9B for Talc Settlements

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has set aside $3.9 billion for talc-related litigation, according to a regulatory [Read More...]
Alaska Airlines Will Pay $3.19M Following the Death of a Passenger

Alaska Airlines Will Pay $3.19M Following the Death of a Passenger

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines has been ordered to pay more than $3 million to the family of a passenger of reduced mobility w[Read More...]

#LegalNews

@@TheNTLtop100

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.