SAN DIEGO (CN) - In a class action, graduates of the Thomas Jefferson School of Law claim that "for more than 15 years, TJSL has churned out law school graduates, many of whom have little or no hope of working as attorneys at any point in their careers," and they say the school lures in new meat by misrepresenting the employment and salary records of its graduates.
"TJSL's average student indebtedness, more than $135,000, is among the highest in the nation. And its Bar passage is consistently lower than 50 percent, well below the average in California," named plaintiff Anna Alaburda says.
The lengthy Superior Court complaint cites a Jan. 8 New York Times article which reported that 95 percent of Thomas Jefferson law school students graduate with debt, the highest debt rate in the nation.
Alaburda, who graduated from the law school in 2008 more than $150,000 in debt, says it was that article that tipped her off to Thomas Jefferson's "fraudulent practices." She estimates the class contains more than 2,300 members.
Alaburda says she graduated with honors and passed the California Bar Exam, but has been unable to find a full-time job as a lawyer. Some of her loans carry interest rates of more than 8 percent.
Alaburda says she sent out more than 150 resumes to law firms and got only one job offer, "which was less favorable than non law-related jobs that were available to her." She took jobs outside the legal field, and does inconsistent, part-time work as a document reviewer for attorneys.
She adds: "On many occasions, plaintiff was informed by employers that they do not hire graduates of TJSL and that the law school's reputation in the legal industry is well below average. Plaintiff's experience is typical of many graduates of TJSL."
She says she was lured to the school by its false statements that more than 80 percent of its graduates found employment within less than a year after graduation.
The complaint states: "After reviewing the 2003 edition of U.S. News & World Report 'Best Graduate Schools,' among others, as well as TJSL's marketing brochures and website, she decided to enroll at TJSL. Plaintiff relied on representations made by TJSL concerning its post-graduation employment rates, including a representation made in the 2003 edition of U.S. News & World Report 'Best Graduate Schools,' indicating that 80.1 percent of students were 'employed nine months after graduation.' Plaintiff reasonably interpreted these figures to mean that the vast majority of TJSL graduates would find employment as full-time attorneys."
Alaburda says, "These false and misleading statements were made with the intent to induce the general public, including plaintiff and the class, to enroll at TJSL."
She claims the school has been misrepresenting its employment statistics to U.S. World News & Report at least since 2003.
After citing graduates' enormous indebtedness and problems passing the Bar exam, Alaburda says: "In order to attract students despite these dismal figures, TJSL has adopted a practice of misrepresenting its post-graduation employment statistics. For instance, during a deep economic recession affecting the legal industry on a widespread basis, TJSL reports that the median salary of its graduates has remained constant between 2006 and 2011 (even though the average salary of attorneys nationwide has seen a dramatic decline in recent years).
