Law Schools

Charleston Faculty Pen Blistering Indictment Of Management

Yesterday we learned that the CSOL Board believes it's the responsibility of faculty to save the school. The faculty

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This morning, The Post and Courier of Charleston, published a detailed, thoughtful letter signed by 17 Charleston School of Law professors (representing just under 75 percent of the faculty). Over the last year or so, nearly everyone has taken turns rhetorically or symbolically bludgeoning Charleston and CSOL’s majority owners — George Kosko and Robert Carr. The press, the students, the alumni, former deans, current presidents, CSOL’s minority owner Ed Westbrook, the ABA, regulators, the South Carolina legislature have all piled on. But we haven’t heard from the faculty in a while.

But apparently, last week’s decision to give graduates the finger proved too much for the faculty:

That majority [Kosko and Carr] also claimed that everything they have done has been to benefit students. That seems exactly wrong, given the costly price tag they placed on a Charleston School of Law education (while pulling out millions of dollars in profits) and the instability the InfiLaw sale has wrought. This past weekend, those owners refused to fund a piddling soft-drink-and-cookie reception for our new graduates, or to bestow on any of them our school’s highest honor, a (cost-free) “Forensic Club” membership.

The professors rally behind the school’s motto: Pro Bono Populi — For the good of the people. The original goal of Charleston, assuming it wasn’t always a cynical cash cow for Kosko and Carr, revolved around a small, community-focused law school serving the Charleston legal market. We talk a lot about the glut of lawyers in America, but in South Carolina, the 9th poorest state in the nation, a low-cost school serving an underserved community is admirable. Unfortunately, as much as the faculty urge a return to that guiding principle, that’s just not the reality of CSOL, as they explain:

So, what 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.

Just last week, the ownership majority claimed it “didn’t need to be this way.” As this recounting shows, they are exactly right.

And yet after all this, Kosko and Carr invited the faculty and staff to their infamous empty hallway meeting to lay the blame on everyone but themselves.

The majority owners now claim that the blame here lies not with their own profit-taking or refusals to recapitalize the school, or their saddling of the school with new sale-related debt, or their inflexible pursuit of an InfiLaw deal in the face of widespread opposition.
Instead, those two owners insist that the blame lies with the faculty who should have just kept quiet. They say that the burden is on you, faculty, to get the InfiLaw deal closed.

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Given that, as the professors note, the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education and the ABA are both impediments to any Infilaw sale, the Board’s suggestion that the faculty can save the school if they “bring Infilaw back to the table” is curious. A 1L Tort professor can’t miracle the ABA into submission. One wonders if Kosko and Carr have crossed into full self-delusion. Unable to resolve the cognitive dissonance that they’ve done anything wrong, might they be living in a paranoid echo chamber where their wildest dreams of avarice will come true if only everybody else clapped their hands and believed hard enough.

Well, if that’s the case, I hate to break it to these guys, but Tinkerbell’s dead.

Charleston School of Law faculty wants to return to founding principle [Post and Courier]
Charleston School of Law students frustrated over unanswered ownership questions [Post and Courier]
Alumni marked by sadness over Charleston Law’s fate [South Carolina Lawyers Weekly]
Former Dean Blasts Charleston School of Law Owners Over Infilaw Sale [Post and Courier]
American Bar Association Defers Decision On Sale Of Charleston School Of Law To Infilaw [Post and Courier]
SC House Members Back CHE’s Authority To Deny Infilaw’s License Application [Pro Bono Populi]
Tenured and Non-Tenured Faculty Issue Statements Opposing Infilaw Deal [Pro Bono Populi]

Earlier: Law School Cuts Graduation Events To Protect Profits
Leaked Video Of Charleston Law Board — CSOL Is S.O.L.
I Bet You Thought Going To Charleston Law Was Already Rock Bottom
Charleston President Quits After Only 8 Days
Charleston Law Finds A New Suitor
Infilaw Purchase of Charleston Law Rejected By Licensing Committee

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