Class action lawsuits challenge law and medical school application fees
The Law School Admission Council and the Association of American Medical Colleges are facing a pair of proposed class actions accusing them of overcharging thousands of aspiring lawyers and doctors for application fees.
The lawsuit against the law school organization was filed on Monday in the U.S. federal court in Philadelphia, and the case against the medical college association was filed in Washington, D.C.’s federal trial court.
Both lawsuits, lodged by the law firm Hilgers Graben, alleged the groups violated federal antitrust law by fixing prices for fees that are required for applying to member schools. The law school council has “gouged law school applicants attempting to follow their dreams,” the lawsuit said.
The medical college association annually collects more than $50 million in application fees from prospective medical school students, according to the lawsuit. The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) collects more than $30 million annually in fees, the lawsuit said, amounting to an average of nearly $500 from each applicant.
The lawsuits both alleged the organizations conspired with their member schools to keep prices high and restrict rival application processes.
The medical college association on Tuesday declined to comment on the allegations, but in a statement said it was "committed to a fair and convenient application process for all medical school applicants and will vigorously defend this lawsuit."
The law school council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they looked forward to pursuing their claims in both cases.
The Law School Admission Council develops and administers the Law School Admission Test and provides other services to law schools. The medical school association advocates on behalf of the profession and includes 160 accredited member institutions.
Tens of thousands of people every year apply to law school and medical school.
The application fees imposed by the law school and medical school organizations are on top of what individual schools also separately charge.
The lawsuits said there are at least two models for competitive processing of higher-education applications. In one, applicants use a centralized platform to apply to many schools. In the other, schools host their own application platforms.
The cases seek class action status and unspecified monetary damages, in addition to court orders barring the defendants' allegedly anticompetitive conduct.
The cases are Nirvana Durbal v. Association of American Medical Colleges, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No. 1:25-cv-02537, and Linvel Risner v. Law School Admission Council, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 2:25-cv-04461.
For plaintiffs: William Burgess, Michael Burns, Peter McCall and others from Hilgers Graben
For defendants: No appearances yet
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