The University of Massachusetts--Dartmouth law school, that is. The U. Mass. board of trustees has approved the acquisition of the Southern New England School of Law (SNESL). According the South Coast Herald, "The final approval needed will be from the state Board of Higher Education, which will vote on the proposal in February. Approval then would transfer the 230-student Southern New England School of Law from a little-known law school into the first public school for law in Massachusetts." The Boston Globe has more on the story here.
One big hurdle that's coming up will be getting ABA accreditation. SNESL was the defendant in a lawsuit filed by a former student over accreditation back in 2004.
Roger Dennis' previous faculty lounge coverage of the financial issues related to the acquisition story is here.
Some of Dan Filler's previous faculty lounge coverage of this story is here and here. Lots of other people have been talking about this as well, including abovethelaw.
This is beginning to look like a done deal. I'll be most interested in seeing how quickly the optimistic numbers begin to take on a more realistic appearance. And I'd also like to offer my congratulations to the students and faculty of SNESL and to the University of Massachusetts as well; this is the culmination of dreams they've had a long time.
For those who're wondering where the new [U Mass-] Dartmouth Law School will be, check out the map above. It's from the U Mass-Dartmouth website.
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