Updated April 17, 2008
The attorney for Charleston Southern University says that an article in The State paper April 15, which implies that the university might close if a settlement in the Parish case is not approved by the U.S. District Court, is not accurate and should be corrected.
“While that statement was attributed to me, it was not in quotes and the attribution is not correct,” said attorney Rutledge Young of Charleston in a letter e-mailed to the paper’s editor the same day. “My remarks to the Court lasted over a half hour, and the AP report is not an accurate reflection of what I presented to the Court on behalf of my client,” he said.
Young said that he did report that the school was cash strapped and that lawsuits could lead to costly, expensive and “outcome unpredictable” litigation.
But Young then advised that “while a settlement was a good business plan in order to get the costs, expenses, legal fees, and calls on the time and talents of people who should be educating students rather than sitting in depositions and courtrooms,” the university was ready to defend these claims.
Out of the 500 investors, only nine have protested the settlement, he said, adding that the attorney for the receiver had advised that “the settlement was in the best interest of all the investors who lost money due to the Parish Investment schemes.”