Lambda School fined $75k by CA for operating without state approval [pdf]

Post by austenallred » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 4:58 PM UTC

CesareBorgia wrote: post #93

This isn't the first time that the CA regulator (BPPE) has surprised code schools with cease-and-desist letters :) That said, we (App Academy) found that the BPPE was a mostly accommodating regulator that worked with us to come into compliance. We did face a couple challenges that will likely still exist today: 1) BPPE won't give approval to operate until the whole application process is completed. This means that La…

Post by staticautomatic » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 4:59 PM UTC

TimTheTinker wrote: post #18

austenallred wrote: post #11

It’s true. Our counsel informed us that we didn’t need to register. Counsel was wrong. Now we have new counsel :) We’ve submitted all the paperwork and have worked closely with California. This all happened a long time ago. I’m not sure what the right level of regulation is (it’s hard taking care of 50 states at once - one state registration was 2,277 pages and weighed 25 pounds https://twitter.com/austen/status/1153…

Not directing this at you, but to all - this is a concrete example of why you shouldn’t blindly trust legal (or medical, or spiritual) advice. Ask questions, make sure you understand, and think critically. No one is infallible.

Post by vageli » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:03 PM UTC

fhbdukfrh wrote: post #74

Chris2048 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. When counsel tell you something is legal, and it isn't, there's little subjectivity.

The law has a few concrete, definitive truths but a huge volume of interpreted and subjective (and contradictory) statutes as well. Otherwise we wouldn't need lawyers in the first place

Post by austenallred » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:06 PM UTC

CesareBorgia wrote: post #106

austenallred wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't say much publicly, except to say that nearly everything you just said is wrong.

Totally possible that things have changed in the intervening ~5 years, but that was our experience at the time.

Post by austenallred » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:11 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #104

austenallred wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear, we were never trying to ask for forgiveness, we were told we didn’t need to ask for permission :) We’re lucky to be big and VC-backed and growing fast. $75k would be near deadly to a lot of smaller schools, so I’m sure the BPPE sized the fees accordingly.

I replied before you started commenting and before I had the whole story. :) I wrongly assumed you were acting like most other startups and just figured "we'll sort it out later". My apologies for assuming that!