[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 02/17/03] Founder sues Life over Florida home By MARY MacDONALD The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Life University founder Sid Williams has sued the chiropractic school he created , claiming it breached his severance agreement by refusing to transfer to him ownership of a waterfront home in Florida. Williams was forced to retire from the Marietta university in July 2002, weeks after the chiropractic college's accreditation was revoked. His lawsuit concerns the B.J. Palmer Historic Home in Sarasota, Fla., about 40 miles southwest of Tampa. The lawsuit filed Dec. 30 in Sarasota County Circuit Court says Life refused to transfer the property because it suspects Williams kept property belonging to the university after his retirement. The home sought by Williams was formerly owned by B.J. Palmer, the longtime leader of Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, the oldest chiropractic school in the nation. Williams and his wife, Nell, have operated the Florida home as a tourist destination. Neither could be reached Sunday for comment. Frank Strickland, an attorney for the university, said the home was not conveyed to Williams because he had not complied with the severance agreement. "The university contends Dr. Williams is in breach of the agreement and will not transfer the property to him," Strickland said Sunday. Strickland, who said he is not handling this case, would not go into specifics. Life President Ben DeSpain, appointed in November to succeed Williams, said an inventory of university property is being conducted. But he said he was not familiar enough with the lawsuit to comment. The university is embroiled in a series of lawsuits relating to the loss of accreditation, including a federal suit against the chiropractic accrediting agency that revoked its standing. That lawsuit resulted in a federal court decision last week that restored the university's chiropractic accreditation, pending the outcome of the case. The accrediting council, the Council on Chiropractic Education, plans to appeal. In addition, more than 300 current and former students are participating in several lawsuits filed in recent months against the university that claim it was negligent in losing accredited status. DeSpain said he hopes the university can resolve the Williams lawsuit and concentrate on restoring accreditation. John Boutwell, a founding member of the 15-member university trustees, said the school should transfer the property and move on to more pressing matters. The university purchased the home as a museum for chiropractic, Boutwell said, because Williams had a strong, sentimental affection for Palmer and what he had done for the profession. Both Sid and Nell Williams graduated from Palmer. "This can be worked out," Boutwell said. Williams founded Life in 1974 and ran the school as it grew to become the nation's largest school of chiropractic. The university lost that stature last summer, soon after the Council on Chiropractic Education revoked its chiropractic accreditation. More than 2,000 chiropractic students have withdrawn from Life in the months after the loss of accreditation. -- The Associated Press contributed to this article.