A former Student plans to exercise her right to Appeal the Approval of the $25 million plus $1 million Court Fees, Trump University Settlement, likely delaying any Payouts for a year or more, and keeping open the possibility that President Trump might someday be forced into a Public Trial on the matter, her Attorney said Friday.
Sherri Simpson, a Florida Bankruptcy Lawyer who claims she paid $19,000 in 2010 to learn Trump's Real Estate Investing Secrets, will appeal a Judge's ruling last month denying her the chance to Opt-Out of the Settlement and pursue her own Lawsuit, Simpson's Attorney Gary Friedman said.
"We're going to file a notice of appeal on Monday," Friedman said. "There's going to be a lot entailed in prosecuting the appeal, but the decision of whether to file the appeal is not remotely difficult; the [judge's] decision is clearly wrong."
Under the $25 million deal struck shortly after Trump's Election last November, Trump University Attendees were expected to get 80% to 90% of their money back. U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel approved the Settlement late last month, concluding that it provided an "extraordinary" Recovery for the Plaintiffs.
However, the money was still a fraction of the Triple Damages at least some of the Students could, in theory, receive if the Case went to Trial. In addition, Simpson's Legal Team noted that a passage in a Court-approved 2015 Notice about the Suit indicated that there would be an opportunity for Class Members to Opt-Out after a Settlement was reached.
An Attorney involved in leading the Class Actions Suit, Jason Forge, reacted bitterly to the news that Simpson intends to Appeal. "She is standing at a crossroads of short term self indulgence and long-term self preservation," Forge said. "If she chooses to attempt to delay these payments to the students, costing some people the opportunity to receive their payment before they die, we’re going to do everything in our power to make her pay dearly for having done that."
Lawyers representing the Class indicated in a Court filing earlier this year that they planned to make Simpson post a Bond with the Court if she files an Appeal. Forge said he still plans to ask the Judge to require that, but would not specify how much he will seek to have her put up. "We'll assess the situation and make a request we deem appropriate," he said.
The initial Decision on the Bond will be made by Curiel, who had encouraged both sides to reach a Settlement that averted the spectacle of a Jury Trial at which the President-Elect was expected to take the Witness Stand as a Defendant. During the Presidential Campaign, Curiel was the focus of racially charged rhetoric from Trump, who called the Indiana-Born Judge "Spanish" and insisted he could not be fair in the Case because of his Latino heritage in though he was born in the U.S. and is a Citizen.
Official Statistics say an Appeal to the 9th Circuit typically takes about 15 months to be completed, but Lawyers say many Cases take substantially longer.
Trump personally guaranteed the $25 million Settlement, which was paid into an Escrow Fund three days before his Inauguration. Most of the money is supposed to go to Class Members in a pair of Federal Lawsuits pending in San Diego, but $4 million was set aside to resolve a separate Case brought by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
It's still possible the Appeal could be headed off or abandoned through some kind of Settlement with Trump, but Friedman indicated earlier that his Client was intent on having a Civil Trial that would expose Trump University's practices.
Attendees at the Trump University program typically paid about $1,500 for a three-day Seminar up to $35,000 for a "Gold Elite" Mentorship. The Suits claim Fraud because the program was advertised as involving instructors that were hand-picked by Trump and because some Students may have been led to believe the Seminars were part of a traditional University.
More than 3,700 Claims were submitted under the Settlement, with close to 3,000 of them considered Valid, with a possible average $6,600 per Claim Settlement.
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