LITIGATION DESK

FORGET SCARY defamation letters, Cambridge University may now be facing its own legal problems, should all, or any, of its students, whose academic careers may have been affected by exposure to now resigned Professor Jason Arday, decide to explore their redress rights.

“This could potentially cost Cambridge University a lot of money, if aggrieved students, and other academics, lawyer up and seek compensation for any loss they may have suffered during the tenure of Professor Arday,” says Ruth Less, a civil litigation lawyer with Pound Flesh Solicitors, based in London. “Lawyers naturally smell blood in an affair like this. Basically, the university has a duty of care to its students, not to mention a contractual relationship. They pay a lot of money, even for the most spurious degrees. This is not a charity. The problem for Cambridge could be insurance. If the university is deemed to have been complicit in the Arday mess, then its insurance cover might not be valid. They’ll want to settle quickly in any event. which, of course, will spark more litigants to pour forth. And I’m not even including the possibility that there are other Ardays on the academic staff, yet to be exposed, and where that could lead. They’ll be burning the midnight oil in law practices the length and breath of Britain. Exciting times.”