CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) – A former professor of State University of New York Buffalo Law School is seeking a judgment that the American Bar Association violated its duty to report the school's compliance status.
Jeffrey Malkan filed a complaint on Nov. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the American Bar Association; Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, American Bar Association; and Accreditation Committee of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, American Bar Association alleging fraud, negligent representation and seeking declaratory judgment.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff was employed by SUNY Buffalo Law School from 2000 to 2009 as a faculty member. The suit states the American Bar Association lists the school as accredited by the organization under Standard 405(c), but the attorney general argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals in October 2017 that the school is not and has never been in compliance with Standard 405(c).
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks a declaration that SUNY Buffalo is in violation of Standard 405(c); damages for the ABA's accreditation fraud in an amount to be determined at trial, including compensation for Malkan's compensatory, emotional distress, reputational and punitive damages; and pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney's fees, and such other and further relief as the court may deem just and proper. He is representing himself.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois case number 1:18-cv-07810