Law Schools

Whittier Law School Will Close, Leaving Disaster In Its Wake

This is historic.

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law school closureYet another law school has decided to close its doors. We all knew it would happen eventually, but it was just a matter of which one it would be. This time, it’s historic. Whittier Law School, located in Costa Mesa, California, will not enroll a new class this coming fall. Whittier is the first fully accredited law school in the country to throw its hands up in defeat and shut its doors.

At about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, students, faculty, and staff were alerted that an emergency meeting was to be held with representatives from the Whittier College Board of Trustees the next day. Faculty members knew that certain doom awaited them at the meeting, and attempted to obtain a temporary restraining order that would prevent the school from being closed. Sadly, their application was denied on First Amendment grounds. Students, however, had no idea what was about to happen, and many gathered on Wednesday afternoon to bear witness to the death of the school that would someday be printed upon their diplomas.

Students asked the chairman of the board of trustees if they were allowed to film that meeting, and were told that because it was supposed to be a private gathering, they would not be permitted to film it. Sensing that something was amiss, one enterprising law student disobeyed instructions and filmed the meeting. See the footage, below:

Dueling messages were posted on the school’s website by the Board’s chairman and members of the law school administration. This is what was posted by the Board’s chairman, in relevant part:

We believe we have looked at every realistic option to continue a successful law program. Unfortunately, these efforts did not lead to a desired outcome.

Accordingly, on April 15, 2017 the Board voted not to enroll new 1L classes at the Law School beginning this fall. We are committed to ensuring that students currently enrolled will have an opportunity to complete their degree in a timely fashion. At the appropriate time, the program of legal education will be discontinued.

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The message from the administration has since been scrubbed from the law school’s website, but we saved a copy of it, and we’ve reproduced it below:

We are obviously devastated by the Whittier College Board of Trustees’ decision to discontinue the program of legal education at Whittier Law School. For more than 50 years, we have provided a high quality education to students of diverse backgrounds and abilities—students who might not otherwise have been able to receive a legal education and who are now serving justice and enterprise around the world.

As is well known, the last few years have been extremely difficult for law schools across the country. Whittier Law School felt those challenges keenly and we took significant steps to address them. Sadly, our sponsoring institution opted to abandon the Law School rather than provide the time and resources needed to finish paving the path to ongoing viability and success. We believe this action was unwise, unwarranted, and unfounded.

While we are terribly disappointed with the Board’s decision, we are firmly committed to honoring our obligation to our current students and ensuring they successfully complete their education. Also, with a worldwide family of alumni numbering more than 5,000, we will work to preserve Whittier Law School’s legacy of preparing professional, dedicated attorneys whose careers have made numerous positive impacts on society.

What’s critical to note here is that, as detailed in the faculty’s TRO application (posted on the next page), the Board sold off the land upon which the law school is built in January 2017, for a $13 million profit. Faculty were allegedly led to believe that the money would be reinvested back into the law school, but here we are just a few months later, and the Board is crying poverty, claiming that there isn’t anything they’re able to do to save the law program at the school to make it academically viable.

While the facts about Whittier Law seem absolutely dismal — the qualifications of its entering classes have tumbled since 2010, only 22 percent of its graduates passed the California bar exam last July, only 29.7 percent of the class of 2016 was employed in full-time, long-term jobs where bar passage was required 10 months after graduation, members of the class of 2016 had an average of $179,000 in pre-interest debt — it’s difficult to understand why this devastating news was delivered to students one week before final exams. It’s almost as if the Board wants these law students to do poorly.

In an interview with the OC Register, a third-year student said, “They dropped a bomb on us a week before finals. People were in tears.” A second third-year student reached out to Above the Law and said, “I feel absolutely betrayed. I’m about to graduate, and I will be forever indebted to a school that no longer exists.”

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But one Whittier alumnus contacted us to say they are “pleased” the school is closing:

[S]ome want to delay the inevitable by lawyering up and going to court. These people are suing only to save their jobs or to win the lawsuit lottery. They don’t care about the students. If litigation proceeds, it will only result in the release of more damaging information which will only hurt everyone. So just take the damn buyouts and be a partner at a Biglaw firm.

To current WLS students and alumni, I understand if this news comes as a shock and is upsetting. But please be patient and continue to strive. In a few years, when the legal market corrects itself and the bad actors are held accountable, your Whittier Law degree will be worth more than you thought.

We know that faculty will be able to land on their feet when all of this is said and done, but what will happen to students at Whittier Law School? Of all of the people who deserve justice in this absurd affair, it’s them. They’ve invested up to six figures of nondischargeable student loan dollars into earning a degree from a law school that will soon be no more. They’re entitled to a better explanation than the Board members shrugging their shoulders and wiping their hands of the situation.

Perhaps the students’ decision to attend Whittier Law was ill-advised due to the school’s ongoing struggles, but what’s happening to them right now is completely unfair. Whittier professors may not be able to save the law school, but they can save their students. Focus your efforts on helping first- and second-year students obtain their degrees from other reputable institutions if Whittier refuses to do a teachout program. Please try to help graduating students pass the bar exam and find jobs. Help them to succeed — it’s the least you can do for these students who are now so obviously in need.

(Flip to the next page to read the juicy application for a TRO, in full.)

Whittier College trustees make surprise decision to end law school, angering students at Costa Mesa campus [OC Register]
Whittier Law School Says It Will Shut Down [DealBook / New York Times]
Whittier Law School, Unable to ‘Right-Size,’ Will Close [Law.com]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. She’d love to hear from you, so feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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