Law Schools

1L Fails Torts, Decides To Sue Law School

He wants a copy of everyone's exams in an effort to prove his wasn't the worst.

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Imagine for a second that in your first semester of law school you failed torts.

Would you do some soul searching, and think about whether law school is really the right place for you or maybe consider your study habits and try to figure out the best way to improve your grades? Unless you live in the fictional world of Clueless, you probably don’t consider your grades an “opening offer” and believe you can argue your way to a better grade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmS4zRNir5w

Yes, this does mean we are about to discuss a law student that honestly believes he can litigate his way out of an F. Here are the details:

Tommy Torts is a 1L at the University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law. (Yes, I know the plaintiff’s real name is readily available in public filings, but should his legal career actually take off he may not feel great about his appearance in Above the Law being so very googleable, which is why it is ATL’s policy not to name law students who make our pages for less than glorious reasons.) Tommy got an F in torts — well, to be fair, he received a D based on his tests/assignments and it was lowered to an F for attendance reasons.

Tommy filed an academic grievance over his grade and additionally sought a copy of every student’s outline (which students submitted as a required part of the overall class grade), a copy of all multiple choice exams in the class, and copies of the essays submitted as part of the final exam under the Uniform Information Practices Act of 1988. According to the complaint, Tommy believes these can be anonymized before produced to him. But as one may imagine, the University of Hawaii had a host of privacy concerns which is why they denied Tommy’s request (the complaint alleges they denied his request after 13 business days instead of the statutorily mandated 10 business days). It’s the fight over the grading records that led to the instant lawsuit.

The complaint also seeks injunctive relief to prevent the Law School from denying his grade appeal without providing the grading evidence Tommy seeks, so that he’ll be able to apply to transfer law schools. Additionally, Tommy would like externship credit for the effort it took him to sue the law school, as well as a letter of recommendation from Associate Dean of Student Affairs Ronette Kawakami. (Dean Kawakami is also a named defendant in the lawsuit and the complaint alleges a hodgepodge of ethical violations against her.)

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This… does not feel like a great strategy to pass 1L year. Even if Tommy were to somehow get the records he seeks, it seems a monumental task to prove the anonymous grading his exam received was so off the standard grading that it would result in a passing grade. Additionally, given the decline of bar passage rates across the country, it would seem that being strict in a core subject like torts is actually a kindness designed to make sure students are actually able to pass the bar exam. But I suppose hope springs eternal in those with no other options.

UPDATE: Aviam Soifer, the UH Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law Dean provided the following comment about the lawsuit:

“The Law School is dedicated to protecting the rights of all of our students. The case is currently being reviewed and we are confident that it will be resolved in a fair and impartial manner.”

You can read the full (and unredacted) complaint — compete with a copy of Tommy’s Torts exam — here. 

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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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