No Surprise Here: Expelled Law Student Sues His Law School
A former University of North Dakota IL is suing the law school for having the temerity to kick him out. UND Law wrongly subjected his application to excessive, retroactive scrutiny, exercised institutional bias against him, and dismissed him without due process, according to the pro se complaint by ex-student Garet Bradford.
What could ever cause the relationship between a 1L and his law school to sour so badly? According to Bradford, the conspiracy against him was set afoot after he simply refused to take an unfair quiz.
1L v. Law School
Bradford's complaint looks like a first year issue-spotting exam gone awry. Supposedly, a professor tried to subject him to a different quiz than the rest of his class -- no reason for the different treatment is given, but does pure evil ever need to explain itself?
When Bradford refused to take the quiz and challenged the grade, the professor and law school turned against him. Part of that turn seemed to have included looking into Bradford's application. Of course, the ex-student doesn't say what was found there, but it appears from the complaint that Bradford may have not been fully forthright when applying to law schools. After a bad first year, he was eventually dismissed.
Bradford's suit lists off eleven violations UND Law allegedly engaged in, from depriving him of due process, to breach of contract, to violations of the North Dakota Human Rights Act. Had Bradford stayed a few years longer, he might have learned that some of these claims are going to be hard to prove. A property interest in your enrollment you say? That's not going to be easy to demonstrate. Attorney's fees for your pro se suit? The Supreme Court has bad news.
All of This Has Happened Before and Will Happen Again
Of course, Bradford isn't the first student to sue his law school. After all, law schools can't expect students to not bite the hand that feeds them -- or that robs them blind.
Many law students are eager to put their developing skills to use against their schools. There's the law student who sued Thomas Jefferson School of Law for making him retake a class. There's the student who sued Massachusetts School of Law for his D grade. And there are the dozens of schools sued for misrepresenting students' employment prospects. Unfortunately for the students, these suits rarely come out in their favor.
Related Resources:
- Should You Sue Your Law School For Kicking You Out? (Bitter Lawyer)
- Lawyer Sues for Overtime, Claims Doc Review Isn't Legal Practice (FindLaw's Greedy Associates).
- Thomas Jefferson Grad Sues Law School, Unhappy as Doc Reviewer (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
- Bad Law School Grade? Here's an Original Idea: Sue! (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
