4th Circuit Affirms Class Action Settlement With Defunct Charlotte Law School Paying $2.65 Million To Its 2,500 Former Students

Law.com, 4th Circuit Affirms Charlotte Law School's Deal to Pay Former Students $2.65M:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has affirmed a $2.65 million class action settlement between the now-closed Charlotte School of Law and former students—some of whom appealed the deal because they said it was not enough.

It would have taken more than $100 million to even refund a year of tuition for all the students who were unable to complete their law degrees, their attorneys argued. But those who brokered the agreement said they pulled in every dollar on the table.

On Thursday, a panel of three judges affirmed U.S. District Judge Graham Mullen of the Western District of North Carolina in approving the agreement. U.S. District Judge Rossie Alston Jr. of the Eastern District of Virginia wrote the opinion, sitting in at the Fourth Circuit. Alson was joined by Fourth Circuit Judges J. Harvey Wilkinson III and Barbara Milano Keenan.

“Defendants funded the settlement with $2,650,000.00, which was derived from the following two sources: a $2,500,000.00 portion of an insurance policy and a $150,000.00 institutional contribution. After a meticulous review, the district court ultimately approved the limited fund settlement,” Alston said. ...

The class covers any students who attended Charlotte Law between September of 2013 and August 2017—or about 2,500 students, according to the initial settlement motion filed in September.

The settlement would need to be $105 million just to refund the entire class for one year of tuition, attorneys opposing it said in pleadings. It’s unclear how much each class member will receive.

Prior TaxProf Blog Posts:

• It Begins . . . Department Of Education Cuts Off Federal Student Loans For Charlotte Law School, Effective Dec. 31 (Dec. 19, 2016)
• More On The Department Of Education's Decision To Cut Off Federal Student Loans For Charlotte Law School(Dec. 20, 2016)
• Students, Faculty React To Department Of Education's Decision To Cut Off Federal Student Loans For Charlotte Law School (Dec. 23, 2016)
• Students File $5 Million Class Action Lawsuit Against Charlotte Law School (Dec. 24, 2016)
• Editorial: 'Unconscionable' Leaders Hid Charlotte Law School's Problems To Keep Revenue Flowing; 'Catastrophic Fiasco May Destroy Lives Of Hundreds Of Innocent Students' (Dec. 29, 2016)
• Charlotte Law School Works On Transfer Plan With Florida Coastal As Rumors And Lawsuits Swirl After Feds Cut Off Student Loans (Jan. 5, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School To Reopen Jan. 17, Despite Feds' Decision To Cut Off Student Loans (Jan. 9, 2017)
• Charlotte Dean Fires Associate Dean For Academics And Faculty Development Who 'Acted As Shield Between InfiLaw And Faculty And Students' (Jan. 10, 2017)
• Is Doomsday Imminent For Charlotte Law School? Is The ABA Going To Do Anything About The Other 2 InfiLaw Schools? (Jan. 11, 2017)
• Leef: Feds Should Eliminate Student Loans For All Law Schools, Not Just Charlotte (Jan. 15, 2017)
• The Demise Of Charlotte Law School Resurrects Talk Of New Law School At University Of North Carolina-Charlotte (Jan. 16, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School To File Teach-Out Plan With ABA To Protect Students As School Shuts Down (Jan. 18, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School Fires Two-Thirds Of Faculty And Staff, Abandons Teach-Out Plan As Negotiations With Department Of Education Collapse; Classes Begin Jan. 23 (Jan. 19, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School Rejects Feds' Demand That It Close Immediately And Let Teach-Out Partner Florida Coastal Take Over Classes; Hopes For 'Fairer Hearing' From Trump Administration (Jan. 23, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School Reopens: 33% Of Students Have Transferred, Prof Says 42% Bar Pass Rate Would Have Been In 20s But For Payments To Students Not To Take Bar (Jan. 25, 2017)
• The Law School That Crumbled: Triumph Or Tragedy? (Jan. 26, 2017)
• The Charlotte Law School Tapes: Dean Drops F-Bombs, Calls Faculty 'Delusional' About Their Power (Jan. 27, 2017)
• An Update On The Charlotte Law School Faculty Firings (Jan. 28, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School Launches Food Drive For Students, Submits Teach-Out Plan To ABA; Is It Closing? (Jan. 29, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School Enrollment Shrinks 62% Since Fall Semester; 2L Hit With Honor Code Violation For Criticizing Administration (Feb. 4, 2017)
• Former Dean: ABA Should Deploy SWAT Teams To Rescue Students At Failing Law Schools (Feb. 6, 2017)
• Charlotte Law Students Skewer Administration; Terminated Faculty Lawyer Up (Feb. 7, 2017)
• NY Times: The Crisis At Charlotte Law School (Feb. 8, 2017)
• Alumni Demand Resignation of Charlotte Law School Dean, President (Feb. 9, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School Is Delinquent On Its $148k Property Tax Bill, Says Check Is In The Mail (Feb. 18, 2017)
• Dean Of 'Beleaguered' Charlotte Law School Steps Down; Interim Dean Named (Mar. 21, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School Dean Resigns After Three Weeks On The Job (Apr. 14, 2017)
• North Carolina AG Opens Investigation Of Charlotte Law School (Apr. 25, 2017)
• Teetering Charlotte Law School Seeks To Toss Class Actions (Apr. 27, 2017)
• Is This The End Of Charlotte Law School? (May 1, 2017)
• Department Of Education Throws Student Loan Lifeline To Teetering Charlotte Law School (May 13, 2017)
• After Hiring Lobbyist Who Helped Get Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Confirmed, Charlotte Law School Gets Federal Student Loan Lifeline (May 24, 2017)
• The Clock Is Ticking For Charlotte Law School (June 22, 2017)
• The Death Knell For Charlotte Law School? (June 23, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School Faces An Uncertain Future, But It Is Not Alone (July 31, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School Says Department Of Education Will Restore Federal Student Loans, DOE Demurrs (Aug. 2, 2017)
• Bloomberg: DeVos Offers Lifeline To For-Profit Law School That Hired Her Former Advisor (Aug. 6, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School's License To Operate Expired Aug. 10, May Shut Down (Aug. 10, 2017)
• The Future Of A Once-Doomed Law School Is Brighter Thanks To Trump Administration (Aug. 11, 2017)
• Charlotte Law School Closes 'Effective Immediately' (Aug. 15, 2017)
• Former Charlotte Law Prof's Whistleblower Lawsuit Claims School Bilked $285 Million From Taxpayers (Aug. 28, 2017)
• The Feds Have Opened A Criminal Investigation Of Charlotte Law School (Aug. 30, 2017)
• Sorry, Charlotte. You Don’t Need A Law School. (Sept. 1, 2017)
• NY Times: More On The Feds' Criminal Investigation Of Charlotte Law School (Sept. 14, 2017)
• WSJ: The Rise And Fall Of A Law School Empire Fueled By $1 Billion Of Federal Loans (Nov. 25, 2017)
• NY Times: John Grisham Prosecutes For-Profit Law Schools In ‘The Rooster Bar’ (Oct. 26, 2017)
• Students Wait For Relief Months After Closure Of Charlotte Law School (Dec. 30, 2017)
• 300 Former Students At Shuttered Charlotte Law School Are Eligible For Discharge Of Loans (Mar. 13, 2018)
• 100% Of First-Time Takers From Shuttered Charlotte Law School Failed February NC Bar Exam (Apr. 21, 2018)
• Judge Dismisses Most Of Charlotte Law Prof's Whistleblower Lawsuit Because Claims Had Been Publicized On Law Prof Blogs, But Blasts InfiLaw's Business Model (Apr. 27, 2018)
• Former Prof, Student Sue ABA For Negligently Accrediting Charlotte Law School (May 14, 2018)
• ABA Moves To Dismiss Charlotte Law Prof's Whistleblower Lawsuit (June 12, 2018)
• ABA Seeks To Consolidate Accreditation Lawsuits By Three For-Profit Law Schools (July 30, 2018)
• Charlotte Law School Agrees To Pay $2.65m To Settle Accreditation Lawsuit (Sept. 12, 2018)
• With Sharp Rebuke to Law School, Judge Tosses Prof's Suit That Included ABA (Nov. 19, 2018)
• Ex-Charlotte Law Students Balk At $2.65m Class Action Settlement (Dec. 9, 2018)
• Ex-Charlotte Law Students Get $2.7 Million Settlement, Despite Objectors (Jan. 19, 2019)
• Last InfiLaw Suit Against The ABA To Settle (May 3, 2019)