Robins Kaplan Announces $28 Million Settlement in Case Against For-Profit College’s Directors & Officers

Robins Kaplan LLP announced today a $28 million settlement it secured on behalf of its client John F. Kennedy, the Receiver for Education Corporation of America (ECA), a privately held company that operated for-profit colleges across the United States.

The settlement covers claims against several former officers and directors of ECA for allegedly breaching their fiduciary duties of care and loyalty to ECA for not giving students an ability to complete their education in the event the schools closed.

At its height, ECA operated over 70 campuses and enrolled approximately 20,000 students. On December 4, 2018, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools suspended ECA’s accreditation. The company abruptly announced its closure days later, forcing its students out without the ability to complete their education. 

“This was a tremendous result. Mr. Kennedy recovered $28 million for an estate that essentially had no assets other than its claims and can now use that money to make distributions to nearly 2,000 creditors as well as former students,” said Michael Collyard, co-lead counsel.

The Robins Kaplan team included Michael Collyard and Ronald Schutz as co-lead counsel, as well as Peter Ihrig and Tom Berndt. Robins Kaplan partnered with James Banter of James Bates Brannan Groover LLP in Macon, Georgia to achieve this result.