It is rare when law schools are sold, but the recent drop in applications is heating up mergers and acquisitions. Charleston School of Law announced it would be acquired by InfiLaw if it received both state and American Bar Association approval.
InfiLaw already owns Phoenix School of Law, Florida Coastal School of Law and Charlotte School of Law – all for-profit law schools. Charleston School of Law, also a for-profit institution, has been looking for a buyer and said InfiLaw is its only option at this time.
The law school’s founders, in a statement, said they had “looked at other options, such as becoming a nonprofit institution and a sale to a current owner.” But “none of the options would have done as much to protect the interests of the law school for the foreseeable future as the InfiLaw transaction.” The law school was founded in 2003 by five prominent attorneys in Charleston. Its first class graduated in 2007.
Full-time applications had dropped 25 percent from 2010 to 2012, and enrollment was also off more than 20 percent.
Neither InfiLaw or Charleston School of Law would release the sales price.
