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Jury rules for Thomas Jefferson over graduate who alleged fraud

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So much for the lawsuits.

Almost five years ago, Anna Alaburda, who graduated with honors from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 2008, filed a class action lawsuit against her school alleging various fraud claims related to the school’s use of employment numbers.

It was the first of several announced lawsuits across the nation. But most of those suits have since been dismissed and Alaburda was forced to drop her class action. She moved forward with a fraud charge, asking for $125,000, less than the $150,000 in debt she incurred while in law school. She claimed that her alma mater used misleading employment data to attract students.

A San Diego jury rejected that claimon March 24, finding against the plaintiff 9 to 3.

“I am pleased that the jury affirmed that Thomas Jefferson School of Law did not falsify its post-graduate employment statistics,” Dean Thomas Guernsey said following the ruling.

Alaburda, who graduated near the top of her class and passed the bar, claimed the school violated California state laws on fraud, false advertising and unfair business practices by presenting statistics that Alaburda claims misled prospective students about post-graduation salary and employment rates.

But the suit faced long odds.

“The complaint acts as if employment numbers are the be all and end all, and that there was no obligation on the part of the would-be law student to do further research to find out what those numbers meant,” said David Levine, a law professor at University of California, Hastings College of the Law at the time the suit was first filed.

“[Alaburda] made assumptions about the data, that employment numbers meant employed as a lawyer, but she doesn’t say how she arrived at that.” He said.

This assumption was especially hard to defend since Thomas Jefferson reported a bar passage rate significantly lower than its employment rate. In the 2003 edition of the ABA-LSAC Official Guide to Law Schools, the school reported an 88.8 percent employment rate and only a 42 percent bar pass rate.

The case was even more challenging given that Thomas Jefferson followed ABA guidelines.

“I think our answer will make it clear,” said then dean Rudy Hasl. “We have been following the ABA guidelines, we have quite accurately listed the information, and we have the records to show it. I think the suit will unfold in a way that will demonstrate how inaccurate and inappropriate the suit is.”

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