We told you a little while back about a suit by a former law student alleging that her school (Thomas Jefferson School of Law) had taken her money (and caused her student loans to run up) while unlawfully exaggerating her prospects for post-graduation legal employment. As reporter Karen Sloan explains, a San Diego jury yesterday found in favor of the school. Here's an excerpt:
Thomas Jefferson School of Law did not defraud an alum by inflating its graduate employment statistics, a San Diego jury has found. In a 9-3 vote, the 12-member jury on Thursday rejected the claims of plaintiff Anna Alaburda, who graduated from Thomas Jefferson in 2008 but struggled to find full-time legal employment. The jury deliberated for a day following nearly three weeks of testimony, during which Alaburda’s attorney, Brian Procel, argued that the law school’s process for collecting postgraduate employment data was deeply flawed and designed to make the school’s alumni appear more successful on the job market than they actually were. Attorney Mike Sullivan, representing Thomas Jefferson, argued that Alaburda had turned down several job offers after graduation and that she hadn’t offered proof that the school deliberately fudged its job numbers. He also told jurors that Alaburda—who had sought $125,000—had not suffered any damages and attended the San Diego law school because it was the only one she got into. Moreover, she received a $20,000 scholarship from the school, he said in court.
