Reed and Knoespel Obtain Relief for Students of Defunct School

In coordination with the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, McGuireWoods lawyers Tanisha Reed and Heryka Knoespel recently represented seven pro bono clients in their efforts to recoup money they lost when their cosmetology school unexpectedly closed.

The former students paid thousands of dollars for cosmetology instruction. When the school closed without warning, however, the owners of the school refused to refund students’ prepaid fees and refused to provide information the students needed to transfer their completed class credits to another cosmetology school. The students also discovered they could not transfer any of the hours of hands-on training they had completed.

When they could not locate the owners of the defunct school, Reed and Knoespel sought to recoup the funds by arguing with counsel for the school’s insurance company that the students were owed the surety bond that was issued when the school first opened.

To the delight of their clients, Reed and Knoespel successfully negotiated the January 2020 payment of the entire surety bond to their clients.