Retired Doc May Buy Troubled Ky. Law School, Administrators Resign

Three top administrators at the troubled American Justice School of Law reportedly have resigned after a retired surgeon anted up $100,000 in a loan to cover its immediate expenses while he decides whether to purchase the institution.

Paul Hendrick, the school's dean and founder, associate dean Jerrod Turner, and Wayne Shelton, who chairs the board of directors left as part of a possible plan by Dr. Robert Meriwether to rescue the western Kentucky law school from an economic crisis, reports the Associated Press.

Meriwether has two months to decide whether to exercise a purchase option to buy the school and improve it, as a cost he estimates at around $4 million. However, he expects to decide much sooner whether to move forward because the school "won't last that long," he says of the two-month option period.

"From what I've seen, the financial condition is atrocious," he says. "I need to take a real close look and find out why it is in that condition. Based on the enrollment last fall, it should have been making a profit. I want to find out why exactly there's no money."

Meriwether says he plans to upgrade the non-ABA-accredited school and seek ABA accreditation if he does buy it.

As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, five professors recently resigned and said they wouldn't return until the administration is replaced. Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit alleging mismanagement has been filed by 30 students and a previous chairman of the board, Tom Osborne.

"Osborne submitted a purchase offer last week on behalf of eight investors, but withdrew it on Monday because attorneys for Hendrick, Turner and Shelton did not provide a requested list of debts, outstanding bills and current enrollment," AP reports.