Prelaw
The American Bar Association agreed to the next step in the Charleston School of Law’s quest to move from a private enterprise to a nonprofit school.
J. Edward Bell III, the president of Charleston Law, announced in March that the ABA “acquiesced” in Charleston Law’s application to convert to nonprofit status.
As the accreditor for the first degree in law, the ABA is required to “acquiesce” before an approved law school makes any substantive change, including a change of control or ownership.
Charleston Law will now file an application for a license with the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, the state licensing authority. In addition, Charleston Law will begin the process of securing the U.S. Department of Education’s approval.
Conversion to nonprofit status will involve the current owners of the Law School donating the school to an existing nonprofit, the Charleston School of Law Foundation, Inc. The owners have pledged not to take any money from the transaction. Instead, they will be donating the Law School in its entirety to the Foundation.
Charleston Law officially filed an application in October 2023 with the ABA seeking acquiescence in the conversion from for-profit to not-for-profit status. Larry Cunningham, provost and dean of Charleston Law, testified before the ABA in February 2024 in connection with the application.
“Converting our school to a nonprofit has been a key goal of mine since I became president in 2015,” Bell said. “I am thrilled that the ABA has acquiesced in the conversion and grateful to everyone at the Law School who worked hard on our application. Converting to nonprofit status is an instrumental step towards our goal of establishing a permanent home on the Charleston peninsula, which will be for the continued betterment of the community we serve.”
“This is a significant moment in the history of our young law school,” Cunningham said.
The Charleston Law is an ABA-accredited law school nationally recognized for its student-centric culture. Charleston Law is one of only two law schools in South Carolina.
In December 2021, we reported that Charleston Law was very close to achieving its long-term goal of becoming a nonprofit organization. But it first needed to resolve a dispute with the city of Charleston.
The school had filed a lawsuit against the city of Charleston for breach of contract. It said the city agreed to let it sell its building in return for 25% of the purchase price. The law school planned to use its portion of the sale proceeds to become a nonprofit entity.
In the Spring 2022 issue of preLaw magazine, we reported on nonprofit schools, mentioning Charleston Law’s goal to transition to nonprofit status.
ABA approves Charleston School of Law’s application for nonprofit status
