Steven Chung (Tax Attorney, Los Angeles), The Announcement Of Golden Gate School Of Law's Closing Puts Its Students And Graduates In A Bind:
I have been following Golden Gate University School of Law’s (GGU) closure since they announced it last November. …
GGU claims that their decision to close was based on declining enrollments and failing to meet the ABA’s current bar passage standards. …
[F]rom a student and young alumni’s perspective, the closure announcement is premature and frightening. Since a law school’s reputation is important for finding that first job after graduation, it can have irreparable consequences. The news would be more palatable to everyone if it came after all of their students graduated, were admitted to the bar and secured jobs. Whether this is feasible and why law schools make closure announcements so soon is a topic for a later column.
So to the GGU students and recent graduates who will be impacted by the closing, you have my sympathies. Right now, the legal job market is unpredictable and chaotic, although the legal sector lost over 4,000 jobs last January, according to the Labor Department. …
Best of luck to the GGU students and alumni. Hopefully something can be done to structure the law school closing process to ensure that current students and recent graduates will not have to explain why their law school closed to a future employer.
Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Struggling San Francisco Law School Slashes Class Size, Cancels Tuition (Sept. 30, 2022)
- ABA Gives Golden Gate Law School 3-Year Extension To Meet 75% Bar Passage Accreditation Standard (Mar. 30, 2023)
- Golden Gate University Law School Faces Bankruptcy, Closure (June 21, 2023)
- 122-Year Old Golden Gate Law School Will Keep Its Doors Open A Little Longer Despite Continued Financial Woes (June 26, 2023)
- Golden Gate Law School Won’t Close, But Faculty Layoffs May Be Coming (July 14, 2023)
- Golden Gate Law School Sends Discontinuation Notices To Tenured Faculty, Paving Way For Possible Termination In FY25 (July 17, 2023)
- Golden Gate Will Terminate Its JD Program In May 2024; 1Ls And 2Ls Can Complete Their Degrees At Other Law Schools (Dec. 1, 2023)
- ABA Rejects Golden Gate Law School's Plan To Terminate Its JD Program (Dec. 2, 2023)
- July 2023 California Bar Exam Results (Dec. 22, 2023)
- Students And Alumni Association Sue Golden Gate For Closing Its JD Program (Feb. 20, 2024)
- ABA Approves Golden Gate Law School's Teach-Out Plan, Releases FAQ (Mar. 8, 2024)
- Students And Alumni Seek Court-Appointed Receiver In Last Ditch Effort To Save Golden Gate Law School (May 23, 2024)
- Golden Gate Law Students Ask Court To Keep School Open Another Year (June 29, 2024)
- Students And Alumni Seek Injunction To Prevent Closure Of Golden Gate Law School (July 25, 2024)
- Judge Rejects Attempt By Students And Alumni To Block Closure Of Golden Gate Law School (Aug. 1, 2024)
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