According to Green the Court Reporting School case won by Googasian was in fact a ploy to earn some easy money. Green believes that Class Action lawsuits in general is a ‘dirty business’ and Googasian loves to utilize these lawsuits in order to throw the dirt on others, since most class action lawsuits don’t go on trial and the law firm just earns the lawsuit fee by prolonging it.  Even if class action lawsuits do move to the next stage, the chances of their success are slim. The courts generally are able to differentiate between the lust for money and legal ethics and this is the fact due to which class action lawsuits mostly end abruptly.

Green believes that no class action lawyer worth his salts would tell a client that a class action lawsuit involves no risk for them. Every time they sign a piece of paper you take up new risks; all lawyers know that.

The Court Reporting lawsuit carried the following risks for plaintiffs.

1)      If they had been legitimately bereaved they lost their right to pursue legal action through other avenues.

2)      They could be countersued for libel or a number of other reasons. It happens all the time.

Also, the time and effort involved in completing the paperwork is by no means small.

According to Green Googasian went on to win the case as the court reporting school was clearly in the wrong. Googasian made an estimated 2 million dollars and made a mockery of the law.

So folks, the fact of the matter is that Googasian has crossed all boundaries of ethics and is hell bent on bringing a bad name to the judiciary, and Mr. Green’s views are a testimony to this fact.

http://deangoogasian.com/belford-law-suit/class-action-participants-file-an-objection-case-against-lawyer-dean-googasian/

Barely could anyone of us claim to know of a small insignificant law firm like Googasian, had it not been for the lawsuit it’s lately filed against the leading online high school – Belford. So its but natural that we need more to satisfy our curiosity.

Not many are aware of the class action lawsuit Googasian filed against Academy of Court Reporting in Clawson – a local school in Michigan offering court reporting certificates to its students by the end of their course, claiming that the certificates would secure their students decent jobs at the court.

Googasian filed a class action against the school and managed to gather about 1300 students and ultimately won the case, hence the settlement amount of $7.8 million for the tuition fee paid by the students participating in the class action.Sounds good enough? Well, here’s the twist. Googasian very conveniently kept $2.5 million of the above mentioned amount to itself, dividing the rest of the amount among the participants.

Yes, that obviously came up to barely one third of each of the student’s tuition fee. But of course the students felt taken for granted and played up by the clever attorneys at Googasian.  Therefore, three participant students filed objections to the settlement with the court.

Sylvia John of New Haven, who graduated from the academy in 2006 said after the hearing that she is dissatisfied with the settlement. “I was expecting more,” said John, who paid over $30,000 in tuition and has not been able to get work as a court reporter.

Let me introduce both the parties involved in this case to you. Googasian happens to be a legal firm that works for social welfare and introduces themselves as the one who “helps those who are victims of unfair, deceptive and abusive practices”. Belford University, on the other hand, happens to be an educational institute that awards degrees to people on the basis of their professional experience (also known as life experience degrees).

The concept of degrees based on prior learning stems from the government initiative of awarding army personnel relevant diplomas and degrees based on their service to the country so that when they complete their tenure, they are not left behind professionally. This concept served as an inspiration and many educational institutions followed suit by starting their own distinctive programs that were eventually accepted by employers and universities. This was, to an extent, abused by scamming corporations as well and many students had to suffer when diploma mills took their money and vanished into thin air.

Googasian recently won an impressive settlement amount against a university that was apparently involved with scamming and awarding unaccredited degrees. Winning always motivates one and ignites human greed-obviously I mean generically and not pointing fingers at anyone in particular. Anyhow, so the legal firm filed a case and Belford would obviously defend itself.

But I believe the case shouldn’t proceed at all-yes, it is as baseless as that! Amongst many reasons, let me share the two most eminent ones:

This case has been filed with US court when Belford doesn’t fall under US jurisdiction. When a legal firm makes a blunder so obvious, I cannot help looking for something fishy. Is it money again? Could this lawsuit be prompted by unhealthy competition? Is it geared towards defaming Belford? Many such suspicious questions sprout their ugly heads and blur the vision-making truth a hazy and distant element.

Secondly, the terms and condition stated on the website clearly protect Belford from this particular complaint lodged by Googasian. Such slip-ups by a legal firm-who happens to provide legal aid to people makes me question the credibility of the firm itself.

By no means do I consider myself authoritative enough to decide who is wrong and who was wronged or give a definite verdict. I only shared what I thought of this particular case and of dire consequences either of the parties will face once the guilty one is unveiled.

Disclaimer:

“All trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners”

Diplomas solely based on life experience learning were the fall guy following Online Diplomas. If GED hadn’t been initiated and had complete unconditional support of the US government, there is not a speck of uncertainty about the reality that “certain” individuals and groups would have, independently and unanimously, directed all their forces to muscle life experience diplomas providing bodies out of academia.

Nevertheless, notwithstanding government approval and huge reception, many life experience degree institutions come across aggravation, attempts at offense, insults and lawsuits on common basis. Please allow me to share a verily interesting case I only just stumbled upon that makes me repulse uncomfortably.

Belford High school, which is a leading Experience Degree Offering institute and has been giving numerous diplomas to learners and students qualifying on the base of life experience and other firm appraisal standards. The Googasian Firm, P.C, a newly established legal company, launched a class action lawsuit against Belford High school, declaring that the high school is a scam, giving away unaccredited diplomas.

With the same set of biased methods, Googasian lately won a phenomenal settlement amount and consequently the “moral superiority” was imposed even more. The fascinating aspect, however, is that this time around there are some considerable loopholes in the master-plan which, in my opinion are very difficult to clarify.

An organization that doesn’t come under the US jurisdiction cannot be held legally responsible or answerable to cases against an overseas body. I have firm belief that the legal firm is wholly aware of this essential truth, so what could inspire an organization to tread ahead at any rate? This can backfire awfully and the law firm could be jolted to explain this purposeful dishonesty. Nevertheless, the case has been filed. Could it be the market players trying low grade tricks and busy plotting harmful publicity against Belford?

If you surf through the Terms & Conditions unmistakably mentioned on the official website of Belford high school, it is apparent that they are well shielded against the grievance the plaintiff has filed. Still, the lawsuit exists. Proceedings and the final word are not explicitly discussed, however suppositions carries on. I firmly believe that the guilty party should definitely take the rap and be taught an exemplary lesson.

So as it happens, Googasian claims to be a law firm working for social welfare of people. The other character of this joke is Belford High School that awards degrees to people on the basis of their life and work experience. So Googasian charges Belford of scamming and fraudulent practices and files a case at Michigan court.

Now the funny bit is that Belford is a non US entity. Blunder of this caliber should end up in termination of license to practice for the kind of incompetency it shows is hideous. Secondly, I was taught in the first week of my LLB to always talk on the basis of facts and evidence, and research thoroughly before making a claim.

But I know for a fact that the strategies that are involved in cases can have hidden facets that cannot be guessed by a bystander. Maybe it is competitor’s strategy, maybe it is a publicity stunt, maybe it is geared to defame and extort money…possibilities are endless. My only advice would be to opt for a firm that knows their work, unlike Googasian, and is above the basic blunders that prove Googasian’s incompetency.

So, the question arises that if they already knew that and are yet pushing their luck into winning the case whose ill schemes are they on the verge of realizing? Certainly there has got to be a lobby opposing life experience based institutions for obvious reasons as these online institutions are doing very well, enabling working adults across the world earn degrees they deserve on the basis of their significant work experience and holds expertise in a particular field. Why else would a law firm otherwise stoop down to the level of actually launching multiple websites, had it not been on a serious lookout for other such online institutions to be sued in future? Through these websites Googasian P.C. is clearly generating information about other institutions of Belford’s nature to irresponsibly file cases against them to satisfy the firm’s own ill intentions. Labeling these degrees as ‘bogus’ would indeed be an illegal practice in itself as very clearly the degrees awarded are truly based on genuine work experiences of the holders.

Thus, life experience degrees simply cannot be declared ‘fake’ unless they are issued under a similar name or resemble the ones issued by other institutions. Googasian P.C. has falsely filed a class action against Belford High School. I would endorse life experience degrees to be 100% legal as a number of reputable life experience degrees awarding institutes are successfully running on a global scale – not at all claiming to be ‘educating’ students for the certification issued. As in the case of Mr. McKenna who in 2006 successfully sued the Daily Mirror for libel; over claims made by journalist Victor Lewis-Smith that McKenna obtained a “bogus degree” simply for money to intentionally deceive the public. McKenna won the case and significant damages. The court declared that Mr. McKenna was not dishonest and regardless of the quality of his earned degree, it would be unfair to write it off as ‘bogus’ and that any possibility of the mediocrity of La Salle’ University’s academic standards does not suggest that its client has been dishonest about his justly earned credits based on his life experiences.

The simplest reason behind this lawsuit can be that Googasian P.C. sees this as a lucrative business in itself, what with on a desperate lookout for other online life experience institutions. The fact that Googasian P.C.has recently won $ 5 million as settlement money from a local high school explains it.

Belford is therefore simply their next object of scheming. Life Experience Degrees are awarded to those individuals who have time-honored core competencies based on in-depth knowledge, skills and experience in a certain field. Examples of prior experience can be military service, work experience, prior college, certificates of achievement, travel, professional development courses and workshops, community and voluntary services. A study shows that between 90-95 percent employers willingly hire people who have been awarded life experience degrees. Belford High School’s terms & conditions stated on its official website patently safeguard their interests, due to which I anxiously wait to see how Googasain P.C. faces similar consequences as Daily Mirror Newspaper did.

The press release also mentioned that the law firm in question is still on high on the success it tasted recently, having won a case over a local high school issuing associate degrees. Their week homework on the Belford case only suggests as to how they are in for some more easy bucks this time round too. We are afraid they might also be unaware of the fact that Belford’s Terms & Conditions and even the information given on the TOS page of its official site only works in the favor of Belford even if by the farthest of chance Googasian P.C. does manage to prove it to be a body operating in the US.Even though online education has been benefiting people worldwide for the last one decade now and has churned out some remarkably valuable human resource for a wide range of professions, it unfortunately still seems to be facing apprehensions from the ardent supporters of the traditional education system.

The naysayers to online education clearly comprise of the traditional on-campus educational institutions who are left way behind in the race as when a student can study at his own pace, convenience and much affordably in comparison, it is seldom that they would opt for a university or a high school two hours far from their homes on the expense of getting late for work, as in today’s fast paced world it is unlikely to come across full-time students anymore or leaving their kids unattended and the list goes on.

The party against online education and life experience degrees can also be educationists who may find themselves out of job due to the online classroom feature offered by most of the leading online universities and high schools and if they are not ‘tech-savvy’ and no more find themselves ‘in demand’.

Belford should not simply have been accused as yet another ‘profit school in the US’ as it is accredited by not just one but two prestigious accreditation agencies for on-line education, the International Accreditation Agency for Online Universities (IAAOU) and the Universal Council for Online Education Accreditation (UCOEA).

These accrediting agencies aim to promote high quality online education, having extensively evaluated and accredited various reputable online educational institutions on the basis of the standards they maintain for their educational services.
Astonishingly Googasian P.C. has not even bothered to look up their case in depth before irresponsibly having filed a case against Belford that does not function under the US jurisdiction in the first place. Belford Lawsuit so far seems to be doing nothing against the plaintiff Belford High School but giving the online life experience based high school harmless free publicity.

Googasian P.C. without any off states that ‘Belford sells unaccredited diplomas’ and that ‘profit schools offering education to adults with High School diplomas and GEDs are big business in the United States’. To begin with, let us assure you that Belford cannot possibly be accused as yet another ‘profit school in the US’ as it is accredited by not just one but two prestigious accreditation agencies for on-line education, the International Accreditation Agency for Online Universities (IAAOU) and the Universal Council for Online Education Accreditation (UCOEA).

 Googasian P.C. is a law firm of small stature recently set up and their only claim to fame is a case where they have lately won a gigantic $ 5 million against a university within the boundaries of their hometown. Since then they cannot seem to get enough of the chance of generating easy revenue on the expense of defaming reputable education bodies like Belford due to which they have stooped down to the level of launching a website reserved solely for this purpose.

 Surprisingly Googasian P.C. has not even bothered to look up their case closely enough to have missed such a prominent point that Belford does not even function under the US jurisdiction in the first place. Their week homework on the Belford case only suggests as to how they are in for some more easy bucks this time round too.

 Furthermore, they have not even loosely studied Belford’s official website as yet and had the nerves to file a class action against the institution as had they done so, it would have both saved them time and effort as Belford’s Terms & Conditions and even the information given on the TOS page of its official site only works in the favor of Belford even if by the farthest of chance Googasian P.C. does manage to prove it to be a body operating in the US.

 Googasian P.C. is up to simply nothing else except for recklessly wasting the court’s time and efforts on an half dead case – the so called Belford Lawsuit as they put it.