A lawyer for the Chicago Tribune says the newspaper will file a lawsuit in state court against the University of Illinois over the school's 2009 admissions scandal.

A federal appellate panel ruled Thursday that the case didn't belong in federal court. Tribune spokeswoman Karen Flax called the decision a technical setback.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision vacated a ruling by a federal court that the university can't withhold the identities of students involved in the scandal.

The Tribune sought the names as part of its investigation into university admission of under-qualified, politically connected students.

The university called the decision recognition of the need to protect student privacy rights.