10/27/2011 // San Francisco, CA, USA // Keller Grover LLP // Bay Area Employment Lawyer Jeffrey Keller
San Francisco, CA (Bay Area Employment Lawyer News) — At a time when earning a college degree to land that dream job is a requirement, it’s imperative that colleges and universities accurately report the job outlook to their students, many of whom have taken out significant student loans. It is even more important in today’s economic state. Jeffrey Keller of Keller Grover LLP, a Bay Area employment attorney reports that this is exactly what New York Law School and Thomas M. Cooley Law School are alleged to have failed to do when by publishing misleading post-graduate job statistics.
“In an interesting twist, several law schools across the country are facing misrepresentation and fraud lawsuits from recent graduates claiming that the schools inflated post-graduate job data. Many law students graduate with loan debt of over $100,000. Now, some of these students are saying their school misrepresented the ability of graduates to get jobs and the salaries they would be earning,” explains Keller, a San Francisco consumer protection attorney.
Beyond alleged misrepresentation and consumer fraud allegations, the law schools are accused of providing information to mislead, deceive and entice unsuspecting college applicants to attend these law school programs, which they may have otherwise avoided if they knew the true job market facts.
According to the lawsuit, reported by Law.com, in addition to the lawsuits pending against New York Law School and Thomas M. Cooley Law School, class action lawsuits may be filed against 15 additional law schools claiming that the schools also inflated post-graduate job data.
According to the report by Law.com, the additional targeted law schools lawsuit include: Albany Law School of Union University, University of Baltimore School of Law, Brooklyn Law School, California Western School of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law, DePaul University College of Law, Florida Coastal School of Law, The John Marshall Law School (Chicago), Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, Pace Law School, University of San Francisco School of Law, St. John’s University School of Law, Southwestern Law School, Villanova University School of Law and Widener University School of Law.
Thirteen of these 15 law schools reported their job placement rates at 90 percent or higher.
While the American Bar Association accredits the law schools, in the past they haven’t regulated how the law schools advertised the starting salaries for its graduates. The ABA is now considering penalizing law schools that knowingly misrepresent job placement results for its grads. On October 17th they drafted a rule spelling out the consequences.
The lawsuit against New York Law School and Thomas M. Cooley, which was filed in August, is seeking tuition refunds and other remedies, including independent auditing of law school jobs data.
“The issues rest not only on the misrepresentation of job facts, it is misleading law students who believe that they will essentially have a job waiting after graduation. By claiming that your law school has a job placement of 90 percent or higher, these students unknowingly take out loans with the idea that they would easily be able to pay these loans back with the salaries they would be earning. It would be wrong for any law school to take their student’s money without stating the job market facts,” stated the California employment attorney.
The experienced San Francisco employment attorneys at Keller Grover LLP are skilled in handling all aspects of employment law cases. If you or someone you know has been a victim of workplace discrimination and harassment based on race, sex, age, or disability, or you had your wage and hour rights violated, contacting a reputable Bay Area employment lawyer can help get the justice and compensation you deserve.
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