InfiLaw System
| Private | |
| Industry | Educational services |
| Founded | July 28, 2006, Wilmington, Delaware |
| Headquarters | Naples, Florida, United States |
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Area served
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United States |
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Key people
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| Website | www |
The InfiLaw System is a for-profit consortium of three, ABA-accredited independent law schools in the United States, consisting of Arizona Summit Law School in Phoenix, Arizona (currently on probation by the ABA), Charlotte School of Law (currently on probation by the ABA), and Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned by Sterling Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, and is headquartered in Naples, Florida.
In November 2016, the ABA placed Charlotte School of Law on probation for violating ABA admissions standards. The next month, the Department of Education terminated Charlotte School of Law from the Federal Student Loan program. Charlotte graduates take on a median debt of $162,000. However, only 45.2% of graduates passed the North Carolina bar in July 2016. And only 26% of graduates from the class of 2015 obtained full-time, long term, bar passage required employment.
More than 150 students and former students have filed lawsuits against Charlotte School of Law alleging fraud, violations of the North Carolina Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and other claims. The students claim that "money ruled, not education. And they left a lot of poor folks holding the bag." Faculty recently laid off by the school are also considering wrongful termination lawsuits.
On March 27, 2016, the ABA notified Arizona Summit that the school was on probation for violating ABA academic and admission standards. The ABA's decision came after the school's bar passage rate dropped to 24.6%.
Sterling Partners purchased Florida Coastal School of Law in 2004 and founded the InfiLaw System in concurrence with the purchase. InfiLaw then established the Phoenix School of Law later in 2004 and the Charlotte School of Law in 2006. In November 2013, the Phoenix School of Law officially changed its name to "Arizona Summit School of Law." The InfiLaw mission is to establish the benchmark of inclusive excellence in professional education for the 21st Century, the mission being grounded in three pillars that include serving the underserved, providing a student outcome centered education, and graduating students who are practice-ready. However, the Charlotte Law School Alumni Association condemned the consortium as "motivated first by profit and not the best interests of its students, faculty, and alumni." Both Arizona Summit Law School and Charlotte School of Law were awarded full ABA accreditation at the earliest time permitted by the ABA; Arizona Summit Law School in June, 2010, and Charlotte School of Law in June, 2011.
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