Former Law Student's Law Suit Against Law School For Failing To Obtain ABA Accredition Dismissed

  Rodi v. Southern New England School of Law, ___F.3d___(1st Cir. June 30, 2008) is an interesting case. A law school graduate brought suit against Southern New England School of Law because it did not receive ABA accredition and therefore, plaintiff could not sit for the N.J. Bar examination. His main legal theory was fraudulent misrepresentation.

In rejecting this claim, the court reasoned:

We do so because even assuming that Dean Larkin and Dean Prentiss made false statements
of material fact for the purpose of inducing Rodi to remain at
SNESL, no reasonable jury could find (1) that Rodi relied on their
statements, or (2) that his reliance was reasonable. We address
the frailties in Rodi's fraudulent misrepresentation claim in that
order.
Rodi claims that he relied on statements made by the
deans but this is directly contradicted by his own actions. In the
summer of 1998, following Larkin's statements, Rodi sent transfer
applications to two law schools: Rutgers and Seton Hall. Despite
Prentiss's letter asking him to reconsider his decision to seek a
transfer, Rodi chose not withdraw his applications. Rodi's
attempts to transfer to an ABA accredited law school strongly
suggest that he did not believe the deans' statements regarding
SNESL's prospects for ABA approval.
Rodi's failure to offer an explanation for his unyielding pursit of transfer is damning.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein