November 01, 2002 75 join suit against Life MARIETTA ã Seventy-five chiropractic students from Life University filed a lawsuit against the 11/01/02 By Phillip Giltman Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer MARIETTA ã Seventy-five chiropractic students from Life University filed a lawsuit against their school and executive officials Thursday in what appears to be the first class-action lawsuit against the embattled institution. „It only becomes a class-action lawsuit when a judge certifies it as such,¾ former Life professor and Roswell attorney Dr. Joseph Hoffman said. „It is my full intention that it will be certified, but calling it a class-action lawsuit now is premature.¾ The suit, filed in Fulton County Superior Court by Hoffman and Kennesaw attorney Tommy Lee Maddox, alleges Life University founder Dr. Sid Williams, the university itself and 14 past and current board of trustee members breached a contract with students by failing to maintain Life¼s chiropractic accreditation. The Council on Chiropractic Education stripped Life of its chiropractic accreditation on June 10 and on Oct. 20 denied Life¼s appeal to lift the revocation. „We are alleging that the CCE told the school what they had to do to become accredited, and the school had an extremely long period of time to comply but just failed to do so,¾ Hoffman said. „Therein, they breached their fiduciary duties to the students of the school.¾ Hoffman said he sought a class-action lawsuit because of the large number of plaintiffs ã a number he believes will continue to increase. „That number will grow by leaps and bounds,¾ he said. „A class- action suit also exists for judicial efficiency because the court system would get bogged down if 500 individuals were all filing the same complaints.¾ Hoffman said he is only seeking monetary damages for his clients and hopes the case will be heard in court by a 12-member jury. „We are asking for a jury trial, but it is up to the jury to decide what to reward the plaintiffs,¾ he said. „It will certainly be in the tens of millions of dollars though.¾ Hoffman said a vast majority of his clients are planning to transfer to other chiropractic schools, but it is costing them a great deal. „Some students are not able to leave,¾ he said. „Many of them are going to have be in school another year. We are talking about huge financial losses.¾ Hoffman said it will take several months before a judge decides whether the suit qualifies as a class-action, and it will be at least another three years before a jury hears the trial, if they don¼t settle the case out of court. „They had a contract, and Life breached it,¾ Hoffman said. „The students fulfilled their end of the bargain by paying tuition, attending their classes and taking the required tests, but once the chiropractic program became non-accredited, (Life) broke their end of the deal.¾ Five students on Sept. 30 also filed a lawsuit through Atlanta attorney Cary King against Life University and Williams claiming both failed to take the necessary steps to maintain the school¼s chiropractic accreditation. On Oct. 16, 14 students, represented by Marietta attorney, Pelham Anderson, also filed a lawsuit against Life and Williams for similar allegations. pgiltman@mdjonline.com