More class actions filed against law schools

More details here.  (The LST folks need to find a better phrase than "consumer-disoriented behavior" to describe misleading or confusing job statistics.)  As before, it remains to be seen whether these cases will go anywhere.  Class certifications have gotten harder generally, and then there are the merits themselves.  Thoughts from readers knowledgeable about these matters?  Signed comments only:  full name in signature line and valid e-mail address required.

Comments

[Mark Gergen]

Hi Brian

I looked at one of the early complaints against a California school. If the facts are as alleged, then the claimants have a strong claim for restitution of tuition they paid to the school. The restitution claim eliminates many of the individual issues that might prevent class certification. The most significant individual issues remaining go to the fact of reliance and perhaps whether reliance is "justifiable" The traditional law of misrepresentation is generous to plaintiffs on these issues.

Given the amount of tuition paid, even if class certification is denied there is sufficient money at stake to attract individual claims.

[Dan Rodriguez]

While I gladly defer to Mark on his legal observations about restitution and class actions, I would note that the factual allegations against this wide swath of law schools are not identical to, indeed a good distance different from, the claims made in the original suit against Thomas Jefferson. Readers should take a close look at the actual complaints in the current round of lawsuits. While I wouldn't venture here a legal opinion, there are some fairly broad factual assertions made in these complaints. Generosity of a rather major magnitude would seem to be required to get these cases forward. But we will see, of course.