March 14 (Reuters) - An age discrimination lawsuit against Georgetown University Law Center has survived an effort by the university to knock it out of court.

In federal court on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle denied Georgetown's motion to dismiss 62-year-old Nicholas Spaeth's claims that the law school violated federal and District of Columbia laws when it failed to offer tenure-track teaching job.

"It... remains plausible that Georgetown could be liable for age discrimination," Huvelle wrote in the opinion.

Spaeth, the former state attorney general of North Dakota, filed the lawsuit last July against Georgetown and five other law schools, alleging they violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and other laws when he was not offered a position in 2010.

Last month, Huvelle ruled to split up the lawsuit, sending claims against five of the six law schools to courts in their home districts. Only the Georgetown case remains before her court.

"We are not surprised, but we are pleased that the court recognized that (Spaeth) has what we believe are strong discrimination claims," said Lynne Bernabei of Bernabei & Wachtel, an attorney for Spaeth.

Kara Tershel, a spokeswoman for Georgetown Law, declined to comment on the case.

Spaeth served as North Dakota's attorney general from 1985 to 1993. He earned his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1977 and previously taught law at University of Minnesota Law School and University of Missouri School of Law.

The other five law schools Spaeth is suing are: Michigan State University College of Law, the University of Missouri School of Law, the University of California Hastings College of the Law, the University of Iowa College of Law and the University of Maryland School of Law.

Spaeth is seeking court orders calling on each defendant law school to offer him a tenure-track teaching position, compensation for future lost wages and other damages.

The case is Spaeth v. Georgetown University, United States District Court, District of Columbia, No. 11-1376.

For Nicholas Spaeth: Lynne Bernabei and Alan Robert Kabat of Bernabei & Wachtel.

For Georgetown University: William David Nussbaum of Hogan Lovells.

(Reporting by Moira Herbst)

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