THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED AS APPROPRIATE.

A&M AND TWU CONTRACT DOCUMENTS:

1. Appendices – Acquisition Documents
2. ABA Letter – Stating that the acquired school is not a new opening, Aug. 12, 2013
3. TAMU – Option Agreement – to purchase TWU School of law, Aug. 12, 2013
4. TAMU – Lease Agreement for A&M to lease the TWU SOL space, Aug 12, 2013.
5. Asset Purchase Agreement selling the law school to A&M, Aug 2, 2013.
6. Asset Purchase Agreement’s Disclosures, Aug 2, 2013.
7. Bill of Sale, Aug 2, 2013.
8. Assignment and Assumption Agreement, Aug. 2, 2013.
9. Purchaser’s Closing Certificate, Aug 12, 2013.
10. Seller’s Closing Certificate, Aug 12, 2013.
11. Prospectus Addendum – stating (and not asking) that current students receive TAMU degrees, April 19, 2013
12. Substantive Change Report – discussing TWU law school purchase, Jan.2014
13. Memos-Redacted
14. Miscellaneous email-Redacted

HELPFUL LINKS:

1. Video of the Sept. 12, 2013 Q&A with TAMU Provost Dr. Watson – Dr. Watson states about five minutes in that TAMU was unable to obtain a waiver for pre-acquisition law school graduates to receive a re-issued diploma. (No waiver was requested.)
2. ABA Listing of Accredited Law Schools – showing TAMU as accredited in 1994, and formerly known as Texas Wesleyan University School of Law.
3. Petition – signed by more than 500 pre-acquisition graduates.
4. ABA Complaint – mailed to the ABA about July 22, 2014.
5. ABA “No Action” Response – mailed September 3, 2014.

STATUS:

First, if you don’t know the story to date, read my previous blog post on the matter. I have contacted TAMU’s in-house general counsel, who has acknowledged that TAMU has the petition, but has not done anything with it because the Board of Regents Sub-Committee on Law School Governance has not gotten to it. They just don’t meet often enough, apparently. Though I discussed an agreement with him to extend limitations until TAMU comes to a conclusion regarding the petition, I have no illusion that TAMU will agree, or even can timely agree to that proposal.

Thus, pre-acquisition graduates of the institution of what is now TAMU School of Law are drafting a federal class action complaint to be filed no later than August 12, 2015. If you are one of the 3800 pre-acquisition graduates of TAMU School of Law, and have suffered a negative experience due to TAMU’s refusal to adopt all of the previous graduates, or want to be involved in the drafting of the complaint in any way, send an email to me, Warren Norred at wnorred@norredlaw.com.

The suit will be a federal class action, and will include potentially claims against both TWU and Texas A&M. Questions to be answered include:

1. Are the pre-acquistion graduates the “intended beneficiaries” of the sale contract between TWU and A&M? If so, do we have a complaint against either of them based on the sale contract?
2. Do the pre-acquisition graduates have a business defamation claim of any type?
3. Do the pre-acquisition graduates have a claim for any type of contract claim?
4. Do the pre-acquisition graduates have a quasi-contract claim, such as quantum meruit, since TAMU School of Law is using our bar results and bragging about the accomplishments of pre-acquisition alumni to attract new students?
5. I know of two individuals who received Aggie diplomas and rings, though they took all of their classes pre-acquisition, and merely delayed turning in their pro bono hours until after the acquisition. If you know of someone who did this, please send me the name.
6. I am aware of at least one individual who was unable to refinance her student loans because her TWU diploma and school records are not from an accredited law school. I know of others who have had no trouble. If you have had an issue with this, please let me know.
7. Similarly, there are individuals who have had issues with reciprocity. I suspect that this issue and the student loan problems can be overcome; the problem is that what should be mechanistic turns into a more complex process because A&M has disowned the people whose bar results they now use to attract new students. (I also note that the year I took the bar, we were third in the state…the same ranking that the school achieved this year.)

The federal lawsuit will be a few hundred dollars to file. I expect that we’ll wind up with three or so depositions; anyone that wants to throw a few bucks to the cause is welcome to contribute. I’d guess that we’ll windup with about $5k in costs. Anything donated will be tracked, and reported to the group. Of course, if we somehow find a way to recoup costs, it will be refunded.

Lastly, note that this page does not pretend to be secret. There will be an email blast to the 2000+ list of pre-acquisition graduates who have an interest in this issue. There is zero doubt that anyone who cares at A&M can see this page, and get a copy of the email that I am about to send. There are three reasons why I am making no effort whatsoever to maintain secrecy. The first is that, in a situation like this, it’s nearly impossible to maintain a corporate movement without total openness among those concerned. Second, only with total openness can we effectively gather our collective wisdom. (For example, I’ve never filed a class action, but someone reading this page has filed one, and is probably good at it, and will contact me to assist.) Lastly, I really have no desire to file this suit, and I am eager to give A&M’s people every opportunity to understand where we are on the matter, and to join us in a discussion that resolves it without filing anything.

Your thoughts are welcome,
Warren

NEW: One of our supporters set up a gofundme account. You can contribute to the cause at http://www.gofundme.com/twu-tamu-alumni. These funds will go toward costs of the effort only, and anyone can ask at any time what expenditures have been made. I anticipate filing fees, deposition costs, and the Constant Contact account. If we raise significant funds and can look at outside counsel, we’ll consider that option.