Joint Student/Alumni Leadership Statement on the Future of the Charleston School of Law

On June 4, 2014, InfiLaw Corporation and CSOL Holdings, LLC, unilaterally

withdrew their application for licensure to operate the Charleston School of Law. The

official notice of withdrawal suggests the company may re-apply for licensure at a future

date. While stakeholders and the general public can only speculate as to why InfiLaw

made this particular decision, we know from reviewing the laws governing the South

Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) that InfiLaw must begin the licensure

process anew, if and when it chooses to do so. As we have all seen first-hand, such a

process is lengthy and deliberative, and if performed pursuant to CHEs published

schedule, could not be accomplished in the near future, and likely not before July 2015.

While a wait-and-see approach to the question of InfiLaws intentions may suit a handful

of investors, that solution is not practical or realistic in light of the present needs of the

school and her students.

It is now mid-June, almost a full year from when the initial announcement

concerning InfiLaw was made last summer. Current students will start another semester

in August, joined by a new group of aspiring lawyers who are just beginning their law

school careers. Fall semester classes are only ten weeks away. It is immediately

incumbent on the ownership and administration of the Charleston School of Law, as

presently constituted, to take this opportunity to chart a clear path forward for CSOL, and

to work together to heal the divisions that this past year has brought. The founding

aspirations of CSOL (as represented to the pioneering students and the CHE), recent

revelations regarding the founders profits, and the current situation with InfiLaw all

indicate that the only responsible and viable path forward is as a not-for-profit law

school. The clear sentiment of students and alumni is that Charleston School of Law is a

community-based school and the only way to preserve her future as such is to remove the

for-profit factor in her operation. It is time for the powers that be to put differences aside

and join together in this overarching goal, for the protection of students, and in service of

fulfilling the lofty goals upon which this institution was founded.

Moreover, with the new school year looming, the owners and administration of

the Charleston School of Law must make clear, transparent, and verifiable assurances

about the future governance and financial health of the school. Legal education is a

substantial, and often onerous, investment for students, even more so in a changing

profession and in an economy that has still not recovered from the last recession. As

fiduciaries, the owners and administration of the Charleston School of Law must act in

good faith to restore public confidence in the school by adopting the rational consensus

that the future of the Charleston School of Law is very brightas a community-centered

non-profit institution recommitted to its founding ideals. The trust placed in the owners

and administration by the faculty, alumni, and the local community, along with the

commitments made by current and incoming students to continue their enrollment,

requires nothing less.

Students and alumni look forward to working quickly with other stakeholders to

develop a concrete plan for the Charleston School of Lawfor the Fall 2014 semester

and beyondas a community-centered, non-profit school which strives to serve its

motto, pro bono populi. As we have always done and will continue to do, we stand

willing to partner in a solution that protects the founding vision of the school, fulfills the

representations made to the community, respects the graduates who have since entered

the profession, and preserves this institution for many years to come. We urge the owners

and administrators of the Charleston School of Law to join us in this endeavor.

_______________________________ Daniel Cooper President, Student Bar Association, 2013-2014 Class of 2014 _______________________________ Annah Woodward President, Student Bar Association, 2014-2015 Class of 2015 _______________________________ Leigh Ellen Gray Editor-in-Chief, Charleston Law Review, 2013-2014 Class of 2014 _______________________________ John Robinson President, Alumni Association Class of 2007 _______________________________ Cameron Blazer Vice President, Alumni Association Class of 2007