Looks like the UC Registrar's going to have to cut some refund checks -- $33.8 million worth!

A San Francisco court has ruled that the UC's fee hikes for professional students were illegal, because the UC had previously promised those students that their fees wouldn't be increased and then went ahead and increased 'em anyways. An angry UC Berkeley Boalt Hall law student then filed suit in 2003 for breach of contract.

Plaintiff Mo Kashmiri was forced to drop out his third year of law school because he couldn't afford the higher tuition -- and then agreed to be the lead plaintiff in the class-action law suit filed. Don't mess with law students! Kashmiri later scraped up the money to finish law school, and is now a licensed attorney.

Judge Warren (of the dog-maul trial) ruled that the UC did indeed breach its contract with its students: "The terms of this promise were not vague or indefinite. A reasonable person would be entitled to rely on the university's representation that the professional-degree fee would remain the same throughout his or her enrollment."