Troutman Sanders and Saving Sweet Briar
Troutman Sanders has been mentioned in a multitude of articles over the past three and a half months for being retained to represent Sweet Briar College alumnae’s recently-formed nonprofit group Saving Sweet Briar ( Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Roanoke Times, c-ville, Richmond Times-Dispatchand many others). In early March, the school, which has an $84.8 million endowment, announced it was closing its doors after 114 years. Per The Richmond Times article, the school needs $10-12 million by June 30 to stay open another year and a $250 million endowment for long-term survival. College alumnae and faculty involved with Saving Sweet Briar are fighting the school’s closure.
By the middle of March, the press ( ABA Journal, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Star Exponent, The Roanoke Times, Virginia Business and others) was reporting about a letter to the college’s legal team from Richmond partner Ashley Taylor, head of the Troutman Sanders’ team leading the legal fight for Sweet Briar, that asked for the college’s board and college president to step aside so that a new team could work to keep the college open. Their “appalling lack of transparency has led many in the community to question the president’s and board’s willingness to explore every feasible option to preserve the college,” Ashley stated. “The decision appears unwarranted because the college has no accreditation problems and has assets that substantially exceed liabilities.”
At the first of June, Richmond partner Bill Hurd was quoted in numerous articles (abcNews, The Washington Post, Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Roanoke Times) about the on-going fight over the future of Sweet Briar College landing in the Virginia Supreme Court on June 4. Lawyers who are fighting efforts to close the school asked the Supreme Court Justices to issue a temporary injunction, which would block the planned shutdown of the school in August. Additionally, they asked the justices to appoint a “special fiduciary,” who, the article contends, would supersede the college president and board of trustees and take over daily operations of the school. “We’re asking you for a chance to save Sweet Briar College,” Bill, who is working with Amherst County attorney, Ellen Bowyer, to block Sweet Briar’s closing, said to the court. “This is not a college that is doomed to failure,” he added.
Bill also was mentioned in a New York Times article about the Supreme Court of Virginia hearing the case on June 9, where they didn’t issue a decision on the merits of the case, but sent the case back to a lower court to rehear arguments on a temporary injunction blocking the school’s closing. “Today’s victory gives us a platform by which to continue our efforts to save Sweet Briar College,” Bill said after the court’s decision. “Had the case gone the other way, it would have been a major setback.”