On July 20, a federal judge in the U.S. Court for the Western District of Michigan, Gordon J. Quist, dismissed a lawsuit against Thomas M. Cooley Law School brought by twelve graduates of the school. The complaint sought $250 million in damages, and alleged that the law school defrauded prospective students by publishing graduate employment statistics that did not indicate how many graduates had jobs that required a law degree, and whether the jobs were temporary and/or part-time. According to their complaint, the plaintiff graduates relied on those statistics in deciding to attend Cooley. The action—one of a series of lawsuits against law schools across the country by recent graduates—was the first federal case to reach the motion to dismiss stage, after a similar case in New York state court was dismissed in March.

In addition to their claim that Cooley committed fraud by offering misleading job figures, the plaintiffs also alleged that the school violated the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCPA). But Judge Quist found both arguments unconvincing. Although, as Quist noted, the figures provided by Cooley for percentage of graduates employed and average starting salary were “inconsistent, confusing, and inherently untrustworthy,” those statistics were nevertheless “literally true,” and the plaintiffs’ reliance on these figures in making their decision to attend Cooley was unreasonable. In addition, Quist concluded that the MCPA does not protect education purchases, because they are not “goods, property, or service primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.”

Despite the dismissal, attorneys for the plaintiffs in this and similar lawsuits remain optimistic about the effects of the litigation, and are even contemplating appealing Judge Quist’s decision. Indeed, at the June 5 hearing on Cooley’s motion to dismiss, Quist recognized that the standards set by the American Bar Association and the National Association for Law Placement for reporting employment statistics were a “floor not a ceiling,” implying that schools should strive to publish accurate and honest information about graduates’ employment. Recently, the ABA updated its requirements for publishing information, mandating that law schools report what types of jobs recent graduates are obtaining, including whether they require a legal license.