LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TestMasters (www.testmasters.net), one of the nation’s largest test preparation companies, filed a lawsuit today against Nathan Cepelinski for defrauding students who are preparing to take the Law School Admission Test.
The complaint alleges that Cepelinski, an online LSAT tutor who does business under the persona "Nate Morris," has been charging consumers across the country $300 per hour for the benefit of expertise he does not truly have. Cepelinski claims to have achieved multiple perfect LSAT scores of 180—something only a handful of test-takers in history have accomplished—when in fact he has not come close to recording even one perfect score.
The complaint further alleges that Cepelinski has deceived consumers about the effectiveness of his instruction by misrepresenting the score improvements of his past students.
According to the complaint, Cepelinski’s misconduct violated the federal Lanham Act as well as California’s false advertising and unfair competition statutes.
TestMasters—founded by Robin Singh, who holds the world record for perfect LSAT scores—is seeking damages based on lost profits and the diminution of value of its own truthful marketing about Singh’s LSAT score record, in addition to an injunction. TestMasters has also asked the court to order Cepelinski to refund to consumers all of the money he took from them under false pretenses.
Ryan Stewart, TestMasters’ attorney, says Cepelinski has substantially injured the aspiring law students TestMasters has championed since the early 1990s: “Cepelinski made the false claims about his credentials the centerpiece of his marketing efforts. He jeopardized the futures of hundreds of law school applicants by depriving them of what they paid for—instruction from a proven LSAT expert."
A copy of the complaint can be viewed here: http://www.moneymakerlaw.net/uploads/nathan-cepelinski-complaint.pdf
Moneymaker & Stewart LLP is a boutique law firm located in Orange County. It handles high-profile business litigation, intellectual property cases, and consumer class actions.