Ky. Law Students Settle Suit Against American Justice, Doc Buys Law School

Trials & Litigation

Ky. Law Students Settle Suit Against American Justice, Doc Buys Law School

Posted Feb 19, 2008, 03:38 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

A lawsuit by disgruntled students against the American Justice School of Law has been settled with the help of a physician's agreement to purchase a controlling percentage of the institution and take on its seven-figure debtload.

Dr. Laxmaiah Manchikanti of Paducah, Ky., will buy 75 percent of the troubled law school in western Kentucky and assume the $1.5 million in debt personally guaranteed by three former owners, reports the Associated Press. Tom Osborne, a lawyer and a former chair of the American Justice board of directors who was among the plaintiffs in the settled case, will retain his 20 percent interest.

As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, another doctor, retired physician Robert Meriwether, had recently announced possible plans to purchase the private, for-profit institution, upgrade it and seek ABA accreditation. He and the plaintiffs have been contending that the former owners of the law school have mismanaged its finances. The former owners have denied wrongdoing.

The AP article does not make clear whether there is any connection between Meriwether and Manchikanti, who operates the Pain Management Center of Paducah.

A 14-page settlement agreement outlining the purchase plan was accepted by U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell and filed today in U.S. District Court.

Prior coverage:

ABAJournal.com: "Retired Doc May Buy Troubled Ky. Law School, Administrators Resign"

ABAJournal.com: "Five Profs Resign at American Justice Law School, Call for Dean’s Ouster"

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