Harnish v. Widener Univ. School of Law — civil / class action — affirmance — Chagares

Six recent graduates of Widener University School of Law filed a class action against the law school, alleging:

Between 2005 and 2011, Widener reported that 90-97% of its students were employed after graduation. These numbers were widely and deliberately advertised in print and online publications, along with oral presentations, targeting prospective students. But in reality, only 50-70% of Widener graduates ended up in full-time legal positions, which Widener knew.

They alleged that these misleading employment statistics let Widener charge higher tuition. The district court denied class certification, finding that common questions did not predominate and that the named plaintiffs’ claims were not typical of the proposed class, and the plaintiffs filed for interlocutory review.

Today, the Third Circuit affirmed. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the district court’s predominance review was too demanding, stating that a court’s pre-certification predominance analysis must be rigorous and must consider the merits to the extent of predicting whether the class-wide evidence on the predominant issues will be sufficient to win. The court ruled that the plaintiffs failed predominance because their damages theory was non-cognizable under applicable state law. Although the court agreed with the plaintiffs that the district court mistakenly focused on the fact that graduates got fulltime legal jobs, it found the error harmless.

Joining Chagares were Krause and Barry. Arguing counsel were David Stone of Stone & Magnanini for the plaintiffs and Thomas Quinn of Wilson Elser for the law school.