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