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HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — As expected, Alabama A&M University has filed a lawsuit in Madison County circuit court against the Alabama A&M Research Institute.

The lawsuit was anticipated

after the executive committee of the Alabama A&M board of trustees voted 5-0 on Monday to authorize legal counsel to move forward with protecting the school’s interests.

The suit comes after months of failed negotiations between the university and the institute — which is a separate entity from the school and was established to handle contracts linking university professors and researchers with companies.

But the rift between Alabama A&M and the institute has deteriorated over the past year and the trustees have twice voted this year to establish a negotiating window with the institute.

“We have tried to negotiate, we have tried to resolve this without going to court,” Dr. Andrew Hugine, Jr., president of Alabama A&M University, said in a press release announcing the suit.

“When the AAMU Board of Trustees met in January 2011, a 90-day window was given for the Research Institute to cooperate with the Board of Trustees. The university and the board of trustees have not received full cooperation from the Research Institute nor all the necessary information. This action is an effort to restore the original intended purpose of the Research Institute, which was to benefit the University.”

According to the Alabama A&M press release, the university is seeking declaratory injunctive relief to declare the rights of the University with respect to the Research Institute, restore the original corporate governance of the Research Institute and to enjoin the Research Institute from attempting further changes to its corporate structure.

The University is not seeking financial gain from the lawsuit.

“The sole purpose of the lawsuit is to restore the University’s role in the management of the Research Institute,” Alabama A&M attorney Angela Debro said in the statement. “To ensure that there are no issues related to our accrediting body, it is imperative that the rightful individuals govern the Research Institute.”

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