Monday, May 1, 2017
Is This The End Of Charlotte Law School?
Following up on my previous posts on the deepening troubles at Charlotte Law School (links below): Greensboro News & Observer, Is This the End of Charlotte Law?:
A few months ago in this space, I noted the crumbling of Charlotte School of Law. The ABA had put the school on probation in November, the feds cut off funding in December, and the school reopened after the winter break in late January despite losing a third of its students and laying off up to two-thirds of its faculty and staff.
The law school promised to stay open through May, and it’s shambling forward, zombie-like, toward the end of the semester, albeit without its interim dean, who quit April 13 after just three weeks on the job. ...
Now, according to Politico, N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein is poking his nose into Charlotte Law’s business. ... The next BOG meeting is May 19-20, and Politico notes that President Margaret Spellings might have a recommendation to the board then. Cue ominous music.
Could Charlotte Law survive a Stein-Spellings onslaught. Sure, I guess. But my money’s on Lucille, not the zombie.
For more on Charlotte Law, the TaxProfBlog is keeping a running list of all the things that have happened down there.
(Hat Tip: Eric Chiappinelli.)- ABA Journal, Still No Federal Loans For Charlotte School of Law Students; State AG Opens Civil Investigation
- Above the Law, Embattled Law School Blames ABA, Education Department, Students For Its Legal Problems
- Above the Law, Troubled Law School May Hold Graduates’ Degrees Hostage, Hires Lobbying Group To Secure Federal Student Loans
- Charlotte Business Journal, Big Block of Space Available for Sublease in Charlotte Plaza
- Charlotte Observer, NC Attorney General Tells DeVos He Is Investigating Charlotte School of Law
- Letter From North Carolina Attorney General to Secretary of Education
Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- It Begins . . . Department Of Education Cuts Off Federal Student Loans For Charlotte Law School, Effective Dec. 31 (Dec. 19, 2016)
- More On The Department Of Education's Decision To Cut Off Federal Student Loans For Charlotte Law School (Dec. 20, 2016)
- Students, Faculty React To Department Of Education's Decision To Cut Off Federal Student Loans For Charlotte Law School (Dec. 23, 2016)
- Students File $5 Million Class Action Lawsuit Against Charlotte Law School (Dec. 24, 2016)
- Editorial: 'Unconscionable' Leaders Hid Charlotte Law School's Problems To Keep Revenue Flowing; 'Catastrophic Fiasco May Destroy Lives Of Hundreds Of Innocent Students' (Dec. 29, 2016)
- Charlotte Law School Works On Transfer Plan With Florida Coastal As Rumors And Lawsuits Swirl After Feds Cut Off Student Loans (Jan. 5, 2017)
- Charlotte Law School To Reopen Jan. 17, Despite Feds' Decision To Cut Off Student Loans (Jan. 9, 2017)
- Charlotte Dean Fires Associate Dean For Academics And Faculty Development Who 'Acted As Shield Between InfiLaw And Faculty And Students' (Jan. 10, 2017)
- Is Doomsday Imminent For Charlotte Law School? Is The ABA Going To Do Anything About The Other 2 InfiLaw Schools? (Jan. 11, 2017)
- Leef: Feds Should Eliminate Student Loans For All Law Schools, Not Just Charlotte (Jan. 15, 2017)
- The Demise Of Charlotte Law School Resurrects Talk Of New Law School At University Of North Carolina-Charlotte (Jan. 16, 2017)
- Charlotte Law School To File Teach-Out Plan With ABA To Protect Students As School Shuts Down (Jan. 18, 2017)
- Charlotte Law School Fires Two-Thirds Of Faculty And Staff, Abandons Teach-Out Plan As Negotiations With Department Of Education Collapse; Classes Begin Jan. 23 (Jan. 19, 2017)
- Charlotte Law School Rejects Feds' Demand That It Close Immediately And Let Teach-Out Partner Florida Coastal Take Over Classes; Hopes For 'Fairer Hearing' From Trump Administration (Jan. 23, 2017)
- Charlotte Law School Reopens: 33% Of Students Have Transferred, Prof Says 42% Bar Pass Rate Would Have Been In 20s But For Payments To Students Not To Take Bar (Jan. 25, 2017)
- The Law School That Crumbled: Triumph Or Tragedy? (Jan. 26, 2017)
- The Charlotte Law School Tapes: Dean Drops F-Bombs, Calls Faculty 'Delusional' About Their Power (Jan. 27, 2017)
- An Update On The Charlotte Law School Faculty Firings (Jan. 28, 2017)
- Charlotte Law School Launches Food Drive For Students, Submits Teach-Out Plan To ABA; Is It Closing? (Jan. 29, 2017)
- Charlotte Law School Enrollment Shrinks 62% Since Fall Semester; 2L Hit With Honor Code Violation For Criticizing Administration (Feb. 4, 2017)
- Former Dean: ABA Should Deploy SWAT Teams To Rescue Students At Failing Law Schools (Feb. 6, 2017)
- Charlotte Law Students Skewer Administration; Terminated Faculty Lawyer Up (Feb. 7, 2017)
- NY Times: The Crisis At Charlotte Law School (Feb. 8, 2017)
- Alumni Demand Resignation of Charlotte Law School Dean, President (Feb. 9, 2017)
- Charlotte Law School Is Delinquent On Its $148k Property Tax Bill, Says Check Is In The Mail (Feb. 18, 2017)
- Dean Of 'Beleaguered' Charlotte Law School Steps Down; Interim Dean Named (Mar. 21, 2017)
- Charlotte Law School Dean Resigns After Three Weeks On The Job (Apr. 14, 2017)
- North Carolina AG Opens Investigation Of Charlotte Law School (Apr. 25, 2017)
- Teetering Charlotte Law School Seeks To Toss Class Actions (Apr. 27, 2017)
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2017/05/is-this-the-end-of-charlotte-law-school.html
Comments
The city of Charlotte is the 2nd largest financial center in the U.S. and is home to nine Fortune 500 companies. According to the BLS, as of February 2017, the region had an unemployment rate of 4.7%. The BEA reports that North Carolina’s GDP grew 4.5% in the third quarter of 2016 and the state had the 10th highest GDP.
Despite the economic prosperity of the city of Charlotte and the state of North Carolina, Charlotte Law School failed to place a majority of their grads into meaningful employment. Only 34% of grads from the class of 2016 obtained a full time, long term job. That includes grads in bar passage required jobs (including solos), JD advantage jobs, and professional positions. 36% of their 2016 grads were unemployed as of March.
Many law school career services professionals have touted the opportunities for JDs to work in JD advantage jobs, such as human resources or accounting. Even though the city of Charlotte is home to several large corporations, Charlotte grads even struggled to get these jobs. Only 4% of grads obtained a full time, long term, JD advantage position.
Charlotte Law School has failed to teach their students the skills they need to pass the bar exam and obtain any type of meaningful employment. It is clear the school is operated to enrich Infilaw rather than help their students.
Posted by: anon JD/MD | May 1, 2017 11:17:52 AM
@Anon JD/MD,
And indeed it's so easy for a JD to go into accounting! Just need to go back to college and acquire an accounting degree...
Posted by: Unemployed Northeastern | May 2, 2017 8:44:29 AM