EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated with new information, September 26, 2024.
Golden Gate University’s law school will remain closed after a judge on Sept. 16 denied an injunction to reopen it, as a group of former students and alumni had asked.
Ryan Griffith, Golden Gate alum representing the plaintiffs, said it’s unlikely a court order will be secured to reopen the 123-year-old San Francisco school following California Superior Court Judge Richard Ulmer’s latest ruling.
A Golden Gate spokesperson said on Sept. 18 that the university is satisfied with the ruling and that nearly all its former law students are completing their studies at other ABA-accredited law schools.
Judge Ulmer said in his Sept. 16 ruling that he found the plaintiff’s breach of contract claims were too vague and that waiting three months to sue after the closure announcement hurt their case.
While the school won’t reopen, Griffith said the plaintiffs can still seek monetary damages for several other claims including breach of contract, unlawful business practice and false advertising.
A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22 to see if the case will move forward.
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Golden Gate’s teach-out plan to give current law students a path to obtain their J.D. degrees was approved in March by the American Bar Association despite the ongoing legal battle to keep the school’s J.D. program open.
A university spokesperson said in a statement that the ABA’s approval of the teach-out plan enables GGU Law to move forward with plans for students to complete their studies at the University of San Francisco School of Law and Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
ABA data shows there were 198 total J.D. students at GGU Law as of October 2023: 25 1L, 38 2L, 135 3L or fourth year as part-time students, with 60 needing to finish their J.D. degree at another law school.
According to the ABA’s posting on its website, GGU Law’s accreditation will continue until July 1, 2027, to allow GGU Law to receive credits from currently enrolled students earned as transient students at other ABA-approved law schools and to issue its J.D. degrees to students who meet graduation requirements. GGU Law will not be able admit any students or offer any credit-bearing J.D. courses beyond the summer 2024 term.
University officials have said Golden Gate will continue to offer non-J.D. law-related graduate and undergraduate degrees. Along with these program changes, the school has reduced its LL.M. offerings to only those for Tax and Estate Planning.
On the legal front, Golden Gate University’s alumni association and four current law students at GGU Law sued the university and its president on Feb. 14 in California state court, seeking to stop the planned closure of its J.D. program.
The plaintiffs’ breach of contract lawsuit filed in San Francisco, alleges students were unaware of the law school’s bleak finances and that administrators have not provided adequate transfer options for students left in the lurch.
In May, the group of students and alumni argued in a new court filing that GGU Law could remain open under the control of a court-appointed receiver, citing that Western State College of Law was to shut down in 2019 until a receiver secured a sale that saved the school. An initial hearing on the matter was set for early June.
In late June, the students and alumni sought a court injunction to keep GGU Law open for the coming academic year to prevent the school from closing the J.D. program as planned so students would not have to transfer to another law school to finish their legal studies.
A hearing on the motion for an injunction seeking to prevent the GGU Law from closing was scheduled for July 30 in the San Francisco County Superior Court before Judge Richard Ulmer.
At the hearing, Judge Ulmer dismissed the lawsuit seeking to stop the closure of the J.D. program and denied the request for an injunction to keep the school open for the fall semester.
The judge ruled that the plaintiffs lacked sufficient evidence to back their claims but said they can file an amended complaint in the lawsuit, which accused Golden Gate of violating its obligations to students.
Attorney Ryan Griffith, a GGU Law alum who is representing the plaintiffs, said the ruling would not end their efforts to keep the 123-year-old San Francisco law school open.
Griffith said he plans to file an amended complaint and would again ask for an injunction.
To read about GGU Law and its legal battle from the beginning, check out the article on The National Jurist.
