Our Attorneys in the News
Court filings say Robert Gilbert of Gilbert Litigators & Counselors worked for more than a year to develop the case and assemble the proposed leadership team...
Meet the Plaintiffs Team Pursuing the Price-Fixing Lawsuit Against 16 Elite Universities
“These elite universities are gatekeepers to the American Dream, and they are closing the gate more than they should,” said Robert D. Gilbert, managing partner at Gilbert Litigators and Counselors.
Former students sue Georgetown, Columbia and other elite universities over financial aid practices
“It is common for defendants in antitrust cases to try to dismiss the case,” Robert D. Gilbert LAW ’82, one of the litigators for the plaintiffs, said. “We anticipated the defendants’ arguments, and are prepared to respond forcefully as the law is in the Plaintiffs’ favor. We look forward to the Court’s resolution of Defendants’ motions, and to moving this case forward.”
Lawyers assess Yale's efforts to dismiss antitrust suit brought against it
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Robert D. Gilbert, managing partner of Gilbert Litigators & Counselors and lead firm for the plaintiffs, agreed with Judge Kennelly's ruling and outlined the next steps in the case in comments to Law360.
"We look forward to winning substantial restitution for the 200,000 students who have been harmed by the collusion of these 17 elite universities and to ending their unlawful practices," Gilbert said. "In order to do so, in this next phase of the case, we also look forward to taking the depositions under oath of the decisionmakers at each university who participated in this antitrust conspiracy which has inflicted harm on so many middle-class and working-class families."
“Now defendants do not have any excuse for their collusion, which must end,” Robert D. Gilbert, a lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
“For decades,” attorney Robert Gilbert said of the participating universities, “they exploited the exemption to favour wealthy applicants and families, and to disfavour applicants from middle-class and working-class families.”
Aid-setting exemption ends for top US universities
Former students want to put the massive donations that helped wealthy children get into "need-blind" schools front and center in an antitrust case accusing top private universities of conspiring to limit financial aid, as they blasted a subset of institutions Wednesday for trying to hide those details.
Let Money Talk, Former Students Say In Elite Schools Row - Law360
An Illinois federal judge has refused to spare a subset of top private universities accused of conspiring to limit financial aid from discovery into whether donations helped wealthy children get into "need-blind" schools, finding that liability for one school can be applied to them all.
Dropping Immunity Claim Can't Stop Elite Schools Discovery - Law360
OBSERVER
An antitrust lawsuit against a group of top-rated universities has the potential to trigger more generous financial aid packages across U.S. schools.
Elite Universities, Called a Price-Fixing Cartel, May Face Judgment in US Court | Observer
The University of Chicago agreed this week to pay $13.5 million to resolve claims it conspired with 16 other elite schools — including most members of the Ivy League — to limit financial aid for admitted students.
University of Chicago agrees to $13.5M settlement in financial aid case - The Washington Post
Chicago settles aid-fixing lawsuit In first concession among 17 elite institutions accused of conspiring to limit student assistance, university also agrees to help cases against others.
Chicago settles aid-fixing lawsuit - The Times Higher Education
New updates arise in antitrust lawsuit accusing Dartmouth and other universities of conspiring to restrict financial aid.
Updates in the suit include Dartmouth’s lawyer’s admission that the College has considered donations when making admissions decisions, and that Dartmouth will no longer assert the “Exemption Defense.”
New updates arise in antitrust lawsuit accusing Dartmouth and other universities of conspiring to restrict financial aid - The Dartmouth
University of Chicago To Pay $13.5M In Financial Aid Antitrust Deal.
Former students accusing top private universities of conspiring to limit financial aid asked an Illinois federal judge Monday to sign off on the $13.5 million deal they reached with the University of Chicago, the first institution to settle out of the proposed antitrust class action.
Five universities agreed to settle a lawsuit accusing them of colluding on financial aid and admissions violations, according to new court filings.
Yale, Columbia, Duke, Brown and Emory universities will pay a combined $104.5 million to settle their portions of the case, which was brought by five former students against more than a dozen schools.
The suit alleges the universities violated antitrust law when they ignored their pledge to not weigh a student’s ability to pay tuition when considering whether or not to accept, a practice referred to as “need-blind” admission.
Nearly a half-dozen of the nation's top universities have agreed to pay a total of $104.5 million to resolve claims that they conspired to limit financial aid for admitted students, according to a Tuesday court filing.
The settlements, which are pending a judge's approval, arrive two years after eight former students filed a class-action lawsuit against 17 elite schools, including most members of the Ivy League. The students claim the colleges and universities used a shared methodology to calculate financial need in a way that reduces institutional dollars to students from working- and middle-class families — describing it as a "price-fixing cartel.” The schools have denied the charges.
Litigators of the Week: $284M and Counting From Elite Universities Accused of Price-Fixing.
Our Litigators of the Week are Bob Gilbert of Gilbert Litigators & Counselors, Ted Normand of Freedman Normand Friedland, and Eric Cramer of Berger Montague who have been pursuing price-fixing claims against 17 elite universities accused of conspiring to limit financial aid awards and inflating tuition.