SC Lawyer, March 2004, #6. The Charleston School of Law: where traditions offer opportunity.

• Author: By Richard Gershon

South Carolina Lawyer

2004.

SC Lawyer, March 2004, #6.

The Charleston School of Law: where traditions offer opportunity

South Carolina LawyerMarch 2004The Charleston School of Law: where traditions offer opportunityBy Richard GershonWhen the first public announcements regarding the formation of the Charleston School of Law were made in April 2003, perhaps many people asked "Why do we need another law school in South Carolina?" But, after seeing the turnout at the law school's first open house on January 24, 2004, it was clear that many people were asking "Why wasn't there a law school in the historic city of Charleston sooner?" On that January day, more than 200 applicants, along with their parents, spouses or significant others, gathered to learn more about the Charleston School of Law. Also in attendance that day were the founders and faculty of the law school. Even though the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education granted the law school permission to operate in September 2003, the law school became real on January 24. That is because a law school's essence is its people, and this was the first opportunity for the people of the law school to get together. It was a special day for what is going to be a special place.

When it is fully operational, the law school will serve as a law center for members of the Bench and Bar who will have access to the school's library collection and continuing education programs. The students, many of whom would have attended out-of-state law schools were it not for the establishment of the Charleston School of Law, will be active members of the community. The school will be an economic force, providing employment and having a budget (by the third year) in excess of $10 million - all private money. The Charleston School of Law will be a great addition to the legal profession in South Carolina.

The people of the Charleston School of Law

New schools are not bound by history. The excuse "that's the way it has always been done" does not exist, and the faculty, students, staff and alumni all have a role in building the law school. They are the original stakeholders. They are the risk takers. They are the ones who pave the way.

The Charleston School of Law is already blessed by the involvement of some amazing people who are committed to developing a law school in which the city of Charleston and the state of South Carolina can take pride. The founders of the Charleston School of Law include some of South Carolina's most prominent judges, lawyers and scholars. The members of the committee share a commitment to establishing a student-oriented law school premised upon ideals of service to the community, professionalism and excellence in legal education.

The founders, who are now officially known as the advisory committee, do not just talk about public service and a commitment to legal education, they live that commitment. For example, during the 2004 South Carolina Bar Convention, Judge Alex Sanders, the Chairman of the Board of the law school, was recognized for his contributions to public service by the South Carolina Bar Foundation, which named him the recipient of the DuRant Distinguish- ed Public Service Award. As past president of the College of Charles- ton, Chief Judge of the South Caro- lina Court of Appeals, a member of both the South Carolina House of Representatives and Senate and an educator, Judge Sanders has devoted a lifetime to public service in South Carolina. Judge Sanders has also served in the U.S. Army, been a member of the adjunct faculty at both the University of South Carolina and Harvard Law School and a professor at the College of Charleston.

The other founders also have disstinguished careers. Edward J. Westbrook is a practicing attorney with Richardson Patrick Westbrook and Brickman, LLC in Charleston. Westbrook is recognized nationally for his work in asbestos, toxic tort and consumer fraud class action litigation. He served as editor of the South Carolina Law Review and has been an instructor in the Legal Writing Program at the University of South Carolina School of Law as well as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Sol Blatt Jr.

Professor Ralph C. McCullough II has more than 35 years of experience in legal education. He is a distinguished Professor Emeritus of the University of South Carolina School of Law and has served as the assistant dean of the University of South Carolina School of Law. He is currently a practicing attorney with Finkel & Altman, LLC in Columbia. Professor McCullough has taught in the areas of torts, law and medicine, damages and trial advocacy. He is the co-author of books on civil litigation in the federal courts and on South Carolina torts law as well as the author of articles on bankruptcy practice and procedure.

The Hon. Robert S. Carr is a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of South Carolina. Prior to being appointed to the court in 1975, Judge Carr practiced law in Columbia, served as law clerk to U.S. District Judge Robert F. Chapman and was legal assistant to Senator Strom Thurmond. In addition, Judge Carr enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1968 and retired as a Colonel in 1997. He has received numerous awards and medals including the Legion of Merit. He has served in the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, President of the Federal Magistrate Judges Association, chairman of the National Conference of Special Court Judges and on the Judicial Resources Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Judge Carr has been a member of the adjunct faculty at the College of Charleston since 1982.

The Hon. George C. Kosko is also a U.S. Magistrate Judge. Prior to his appointment to the court in 2000, Judge Kosko was in private practice from 1975 to 2000. Judge Kosko also served as the first family court solicitor in South Carolina and assistant solicitor for Richland County. In addition to being selected for inclusion in the first Who's Who in American Law, Judge Kosko lectured at the University of South Carolina School of Law on trial issues and ethics and has delivered many papers for the American Association of Airport Executives, the Southeastern Aviation Managers Association, the North Carolina Aircraft Association and the South Carolina Aeronautics Commission.

The law school's public service vision

The overriding goals of the Charleston School of Law are:

* to teach students of high moral character and unquestioned personal integrity through a careful and refined study program;

* to teach the practice of law as a profession, having as its chief aim to provide public service;

* to teach the law as a means of providing relief for those who suffer because they are helpless, weak, outnumbered, or because they are victims of prejudice;

* to teach the law as a means of alleviating human misery and human suffering;

* to teach the law as a means of making possible the continued processes of manufacture and commerce that bring realization to the twin goals of prosperity and peace in the world;

* to institute and coordinate legal outreach programs to the South Carolina and American Bars, local, state and federal governments, as well as to the general population; and

* to encourage and foster legal reforms.

This entails additional goals of graduating students who will be successful in passing the Bar, recruiting and retaining highly qualified and effective faculty, providing a law library that meets the needs of the educational program and developing and maintaining technological capabilities reflective of the educational and professional needs of the legal field.

While the school does not expect all of its students to go into public service areas of the law, their training will include exposure to public service as a way of life. As professionals, the Charleston School of Law graduates will know that they are expected to provide access to justice and to give something back to the community, no matter what area of practice they choose to enter.

As part of their professional training, they will be involved in pro bono programs. Furthermore, they will be given extensive opportunities to receive credit for internships with attorneys, judges and organizations. These opportunities will be reflective of the law school's focus on providing professional education, rather than graduate education. Of course, the primary focus will be to train students to be members of the legal profession.

The part-time program: providing access to education

One important aspect of the Charleston School of Law is the offering of a part-time program in addition to the more traditional full-time program. The part-time program will provide working people with access to legal education. Part-time students will take between eight and 11 hours, rather than the 12 to 16 hours taken by full-time students. They will be able to complete their degrees in four years.

Joint and graduate programs

The Charleston School of Law is fortunate to be in a city with abundant educational opportunities in other disciplines. In addition to developing an outstanding juris doctor program, the law school will develop several joint degree programs with those institutions. Joint law and Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Masters of Public Health (MPH) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) are just a few of the possible joint degrees we could make available through cooperative efforts. The law school plans to create "3+3" programs, so that a student completing his junior year of college could start law school and have his first year of law school credited as his final year of undergraduate school by the degree-granting institution.

Finally, the law school will develop graduate law programs such as the LL.M. in Admiralty Law. The graduate programs will allow practicing lawyers the opportunity to take advanced courses with recognized experts.

Continuing education

In addition to formal degree programs, the law school will sponsor several continuing education and professional development programs. These programs will include many of the leading experts on various topics relating to the profession. Furthermore, the law school will create its own Inn of Court, which will allow judges and senior members of the profession to serve as mentors to students and newer attorneys. The primary focus of the American Inn of Court movement is to foster ethics and professionalism.

In essence, the Charleston School of Law will be the Charleston Law Center.

The law school's facilities

The law school's initial building will be at 81 Mary Street in downtown Charleston. The building formerly housed the Greater Charleston Chamber of Commerce and is a great example of traditional Charleston architecture. This beautiful facility is perfect for the law school's needs in its first year of operation, as it already has classroom, conference and office space. Additionally, the building's high ceilings make it ideal for housing the law library's collection.

The library itself will be available for attorneys seeking to do research. Attorneys are invited, and encouraged, to use the building! Dean Russell is putting together an outstanding collection while keeping in mind the need for students to understand how to use technology in their professional careers. To support such technology training, the law school and law library will provide wireless Internet service, which will allow students to access the electronic materials from anywhere in the law school. On nice days, they will even be able to take their portable computers outside and still be connected while enjoying the building's im- pressive veranda.

Seeking approval by the American Bar Association

New law schools cannot seek approval by the American Bar Association until their first class is in place. The earliest that a law school can be provisionally approved is the August (during the ABA annual meeting) prior to the graduation of its first class. Provisional approval allows a law school's graduates to take the bar exam in any state in the country. Without that approval they cannot sit for a bar exam unless the state Supreme Court grants an exception. There is some risk associated with attending an unaccredited law school. The founders, faculty and staff of the law school understand the requirements for approval as set forth in the ABA Standards for Accrediting Law Schools, and they are all confident that the law school will not only meet those standards, but exceed them. The founders have committed personal time and financial resources to this endeavor, and the current faculty and staff have all left jobs with approved schools to be a part of the founding of this school. None of them would have made these commitments if they did not have the utmost faith in their ability to achieve ABA approval at the earliest possible time.

Conclusion

The development of the Charleston School of Law is well underway. The founders, faculty and staff are excited to have an opportunity to be involved in building a new law center that will be an asset to the people of South Carolina, as well as the profession. The people of the Charleston School of Law are happy to have input from the membership of the South Carolina Bar regarding the law school and its programs.

Richard Gershon is Dean and Professor of Law at the Charleston School of Law in Charleston.

A personal note about the part-time program

On a personal level, I am really excited about the part-time program and what it will bring to the Charleston School of Law. My first exposure to evening legal education was at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth, Tx. All of my teaching experience before that was with law schools having only traditional day programs. When I joined the faculty at Texas Wesleyan, I was asked to teach federal income taxation from 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. at night. I could not imagine having to work all day and then having to sit through a discussion of the Internal Revenue Code. The students in that evening class included a physician, an executive with a major corporation, several managers at Lockheed and a Fort Worth Police officer in uniform. Teaching them was an absolutely wonderful experience, and none of them would have been able to attend law school had it not been for our part-time program.

The Charleston School of Law faculty

The attractions of Charleston and the opportunity to shape a new generation of legal scholars have drawn exceptional teachers and scholars to our school. The number of judges, practicing lawyers and experienced law faculty members who have expressed an interest in joining the faculty of the Charleston School of Law is overwhelming. To date, every faculty member hired by the law school has taught courses at the law school level.

Professor Randall Bridwell currently serves as the Strom Thurmond Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina. Professor Bridwell will not only be teaching civil procedure to the entering class, he will be calling on his nationally recognized expertise in admiralty law to develop an Admiralty Law Institute for the law school. Professor Stephen Spitz is currently visiting at the University of Nebraska Law School, received the Gedney M. Howe Outstanding Teaching Award at the University of South Carolina and is highly regarded as a property lawyer and scholar by the members of the practicing bar. Effective legal research and writing skills are essential to attorneys, and the law school will have an outstanding writing program under the direction of Professor Lorri Unumb, who joins the Charleston School of Law after directing the first-year legal research and writing program at the George Washington University School of Law, a top-tier law school. Professor Nancy L. Zisk is a graduate of Duke University with a B.A. in English and Psychology and an honors graduate of Duke University Law School. She was an adjunct professor of law at the Washington College of Law at American University. Professor Zisk practiced law as an attorney in the firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld in Washington, D.C.

Associate Dean and Professor Gordon Russell directs the law library. He was the library director at St. Thomas University law school in Miami, where he was instrumental in building the library collection. He has taught first-year legal research and writing, advanced electronic research for upper classes and computer-assisted legal research as well as an online distance education class in the International Off-Shore Tax LL.M. program.

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid John Benfield served as the director of the USC program for 13 years. Dean Benfield's knowledge of recruiting and his familiarity with South Carolina are major reasons why the Charleston School of Law expects to meet its goal of 1000 applications for 125 full-time positions (at the time of this writing, the school has received more than 650 applications, and more are pouring in each day).

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