Daily Debriefing
Following a dismissal of their case by the New Hampshire Supreme Court last week, the group of alumni bringing a lawsuit against the College Board of Trustees filed a motion for reconsideration with the Court on Thursday, according to attorney for the plaintiffs Eugene Van Loan. The motion requests the Court to address the plaintiffs' claim that the Board made a binding promise in a 1891 agreement guaranteeing parity between alumni-elected trustees and charter trustees. The plaintiffs argue that the reversal of this agreement is barred by the doctrine of "promissory estoppel," in which a party claims to rely on a promise although it is not an enforceable contract. In its recent decision, the Court upheld a lower court's ruling that the promissory estoppel claims are barred by the doctrine of "res judicata," by which any legal claims cannot be filed in a case for which a judgment has already been reached or that entails the re-litigation of a matter between the same two parties, The Dartmouth previously reported.