Duncan Law Losing Applicants, Students in Wake of Accreditation Denial
Applications have dropped 26 percent at Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law since the school was denied provisional accreditation by the ABA’s law school accrediting arm in December.
Eight students have also left the school in the wake of the accreditation denial, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.
“Competitor law schools are openly soliciting (Duncan School of Law) students to transfer to their schools,” Dean Sydney Beckman said in a court filing on Wednesday. “As a result, a greater number of DSOL students are making preparations to transfer from DSOL by requesting letters of good standing from the law school.”
Duncan is now embroiled in a lawsuit against the ABA over the denial of its application for provisional accreditation by the governing council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. The dean’s statement was filed in support of Duncan’s request that the judge in the case reconsider his Jan. 18 refusal to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the ABA.
The judge, in his ruling, cited Duncan’s inability to show that it had actually been harmed by the denial of provisional accreditation among his reasons for denying the school’s motion. In his statement Wednesday, Beckman described how the school has struggled in the wake of the section’s decision.
“As a result of the national publicity that has been given (to) the ABA’s actions, DSOL has experienced a loss of goodwill and diminished standing before the public at large,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the school said Duncan officials would have no further comment on the litigation.
The ABA also filed motions Wednesday to dismiss and stay the litigation.
