75% Of Charleston Faculty Put Their Jobs On The Line, Blast Law School's Management

Seventeen (75%) of the Charleston law school faculty have published a remarkable op-ed in the Post and Courier, Charleston School of Law Faculty Wants to Return to Founding Principle. The founding Charleston Dean (and current Mississippi Dean) Richard Gerson notes that "[t]he faculty who signed this letter are aware that publishing it will likely cost them their jobs."

When five South Carolinians opened the Charleston School of Law in 2004 as an “elegant” local law school, it was greeted enthusiastically by the Charleston community. ... In the years that followed, the Charleston School of Law flourished beyond all expectations. ... By any measure, the school was trending towards national distinction.

What happened?

InfiLaw arrived. What follows is the perspective of faculty of the law school. We are teachers, committed to the special “student-first” culture that has come to define the Charleston School of Law. (Don’t take our word for that; ask any law student for an opinion.) Questioning this sale is certainly not in any faculty member’s best personal interest. As one Charlestonian quipped, we sure aren’t earning any “gold stars” from the InfiLaw folks. But this cause has been too important for us to stand aside. ...

[W]hat caused this mess? No spin — here is our understanding:

First, in the years immediately preceding the sale to InfiLaw, the owners distributed to themselves as profits $25 million in student-paid (often federally-guaranteed) tuition dollars. Those distributions depleted a multi-million dollar “rainy-day” fund, which the owners had assured the American Bar Association would remain in place to shelter the school against economic downturns. This profit-taking weakened the once financially vibrant law school.

Second, two of the five owners voted to buy out two of the others, thereby obtaining the votes needed to ink the InfiLaw deal. This buyout was accomplished through an InfiLaw loan, with the resulting millions in new debt strapping the school still further.

Third, the remaining owners (by a 2-1 vote) hired InfiLaw as a “consultant,” at a numbing price tag that roughly equaled what 16 law students pay yearly in tuition.

Fourth, these various decisions triggered a regulatory event which required the posting of heavy, new financial bonds.

Fifth, uncomfortable with the prospect of an InfiLaw acquisition, some current students transferred away and some incoming students changed their minds, with consequential revenue impacts.

Sixth, opportunities to pursue a non-InfiLaw future for the school (which, concededly, would have paid the owners less than InfiLaw’s deal promised to do) were not succeeding.

Seventh, the majority owners failed to return any of their profit-taking to the school as its financial needs grew. Only the minority owner, Ed Westbrook, volunteered to return money, and he even pledged to donate his full ownership share to a nonprofit. ...

The owners and InfiLaw have had nearly two years to get this deal closed. Their problem isn’t the faculty. Their problem is that they can’t sell the deal to South Carolina. The state’s Commission on Higher Education’s subcommittee voted against the deal last spring, and the American Bar Association rebuffed an end-run strategy to obtain their acquiescence last winter. If the merits were compelling, the faculty’s concerns wouldn’t matter a lick.

Unlike the owners — who reportedly were to receive millions more if the InfiLaw sale closed — the faculty’s position is not driven by self-interest (indeed, self-interest would favor a running leap aboard the InfiLaw bandwagon). ...

It is true that the faculty’s resistance to InfiLaw has not served the owners’ interest in pulling out still more profits. But it is, we believe, in the best interests of the young men and women of the state of South Carolina — and that is pro bono populi.

• Above the Law, Charleston Faculty Pen Blistering Indictment Of Management
• JD Journal,  Faculty Members in the Dark about Charleston Law Closing 
• Live 5, Charleston School of Law Releases Statement on School's Status
• Post and Courier, Can Law School be Saved?