Wittenberg Sues Former Law Firm

Wittenberg University has filed a lawsuit maintaining a Springfield firm’s lawyers withheld information and created conflicts of interest while working for the university, leading to real estate transactions that damaged the school’s finances. 

According to the lawsuit, the university’s new administration discovered what it describes as misconduct by the school’s former attorneys at Martin, Brown, Hull and Harper as well as “substantial losses relating to multiple, past university actions.” The school’s administration says it is working to get the school’s operations out from under significant deficits, cutting more than $5 million from its $55 million budget and eliminating 29 positions.

Among the improper actions, the suit claims there was a 2010 transaction in which the university used an undisclosed amount of endowment funds to buy and renovate the Springfield Museum of Art building.  Wittenberg’s complaint also points to other transactions beyond the art museum deal, including the purchase of several other buildings in the university area. 

See Matt Sanctis, Wittenberg Sues Former Law Firm Over Financial Deals, Dayton Daily News, March 6, 2015.