Significantly Limiting Liability and Reputational Harm

Our Client

A large, prestigious university on the West Coast.

The Issue

The largest (at the time) federal class action litigation related to a doctor accused of abusing patients on their campus medical facilities over the course of more than a decade.

The Challenge

Months before we were engaged, top-tier media launched a series of investigative stories coupled with the filing of multiple federal class action lawsuits with tens of thousands of plaintiffs, which painted the university as uncaring and incompetent. It could take decades to understand litigation of this magnitude.

The Opportunity

At the time, the broader political, cultural, and media environments were rife with high-profile abuse cases dominating headlines. New university leadership was committed to finding resolutions to provide accountability for the plaintiffs and to make meaningful changes to protect current and future students, while restoring trust with skeptical stakeholders.

The Plan

Strategizing with the legal team, a groundbreaking federal class action settlement was designed to provide relief to former patients of this doctor, not just those that came forward with accusations. We launched an aggressive education effort about the University’s remedial actions and the unique and private settlement that would provide plaintiffs with compensation, counseling, and other services without incurring a prolonged legal battle or undue media attention. We worked with media including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, campus media, and other outlets to roll out the settlement and demonstrate that the University’s administration was truly committed to swift resolution for those affected.

By deploying campus thought leaders, prominent supporters, grassroots activists and other third parties, we countered potential legislation that could have potentially derailed the settlement and had significantly altered the regulatory landscape for all higher education.

The Result

In the largest federal class-action lawsuit at the time, we significantly limited our client’s liability of individual state class action plaintiffs by more than 16,000 people and minimized reputational harm by garnering maximum plaintiff and stakeholder support for their unique survivor-centric settlement.

By focusing on patients, the broader campus community, alumni, and the media, the University was able to minimize long-term reputational harm and continue fundraising at record levels. Consequently, student applications were at an all-time high, while the settlement was making its way through the courts.