Judge appears close to approving Trump University settlement
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US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel is once again reflecting on his second-oldest case – a nearly seven-year-old lawsuit alleging that Donald Trump defrauded students of the now-defunct Trump University before he was president.
The filings fill millions of pages. There were 65 depositions, including three of Trump.
After praising a proposed $25 million settlement for giving an "extraordinary amount" of money back to former customers, Curiel stopped short Thursday of approving the agreement, which would effectively end the president's legal exposure from the venture that dogged the Republican businessman throughout his campaign.
Curiel said at the end of an hour-long hearing that he would rule at a later time on final approval to settle two class-action lawsuits before him and a civil lawsuit by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
The only holdup appeared to be a Florida woman's claim that she should be allowed to opt out of the settlement and sue the president on her own -- a move that would likely scuttle the entire agreement.
Attorneys for former customers said that their clients would get at least 90 percent of their money back under the deal, based on the roughly 3,730 claims submitted. The attorneys waived their fees and Schneiderman agreed to forego $1.6 million of his $4 million portion of the settlement, raising individual payments.
