The American Lawyer – Litigation features Venable’s victory on behalf of New York Law School

The spring 2012 edition of The American Lawyer – Litigation featured Venable’s victory earlier this year on behalf of New York Law School. On March 21 Venable attorneys in New York obtained a dismissal of all claims brought by a putative class of New York Law School students and alumni in the Gomez-Jimenez v. New York Law School case, filed in New York State Court. The suit alleged that students and applicants relied on misleading information provided by the school, concerning its graduates’ employment and salaries, in making their decision to attend New York Law School. A New York Supreme Court judge dismissed each of plaintiffs’ claims and adopted many of the arguments Venable set forth in its briefs and during recent oral arguments.

Commenting on the allegations in the lawsuit and the American Bar Association’s (ABA) guidelines for employment reporting, Venable partner Ed O’Toole said, “There’ve been no allegations that these schools have done anything else but comply with the ABA guidelines.” O’Toole added that the plaintiffs are “using the courts not to indict the schools for their individual behavior, but to indict the ABA for not being detailed enough in the information it requires.”

During oral arguments, Venable partner Michael Volpe argued the plaintiffs beef was with the ABA and not New York Law School. Volpe added that perspective law students should understand the legal job market. “What this case appears to be is that the plaintiffs just didn’t get the job they wanted now, a few months or a couple of years after law school.”