{"id":122647,"date":"2026-02-04T14:37:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T14:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/122647\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T14:37:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T14:37:31","slug":"law-school-plans-of-elon-restoring-legal-education-in-charlotte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/122647\/","title":{"rendered":"Law school plans of Elon restoring legal education in Charlotte"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elon University is filling a longtime gap in the Charlotte market with the announcement of its new law school program that will accept applications this fall and begin operating in the city in the fall of 2027. The part-time flex program and full-time Juris Doctor program options will both be based at the Queens University campus, shedding further light on the merger<\/a> announced between the two universities in 2025.<\/p>\n

Elon has made no secret of its desire to establish roots in Charlotte over the years. The university launched its part-time law flex program in the Queen City in 2024, recognizing the \u201cunmet demand\u201d in the area<\/a> and offering specialized courses pertaining to Charlotte\u2019s biggest industries like banking, health care and sports and entertainment. Then the 2025 merger with Charlotte-based Queens University sent shockwaves through higher education as Elon made its biggest swing yet toward the state\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n

The new program is sure to shake up the legal education scene, seeing as all six of North Carolina law schools are currently concentrated in the closeby Triangle and Triad regions of the state.<\/p>\n

John Lassiter, president of Carolina Legal Staffing and former president of the Mecklenburg Bar Association, said Charlotte has benefited from the North Carolina law schools as well as University of South Carolina School of Law as far as hiring new graduates. The real detriment has been to law students who might be interested in a summer internship in Charlotte but find it difficult to accomplish due to the distance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elon Law is a respected, nationally recognized program with an already growing footprint in Charlotte, Lassiter said. The flex model, which Elon has been running in Charlotte\u2019s South End since 2024, has also been successful in other urban markets like Boston and Chicago in opening up opportunities for those who want to transition into law from another field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people are at different life stages or different places in their career, the ability to access a legal education without having to, in the case of Elon\u2019s Charlotte flex program, potentially, uproot from your family and from your job for up to three years to move to the Triad or the Triangle,\u201d said President of the Mecklenburg Bar Association Sarah Motley Stone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tremendous way to give people access to legal education in a way that fits with where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flex program has already seen steady growth. Even so, while the part-time, night classes are desirable for many, that\u2019s not what every prospective law student is looking for, Elon Law dean Zak Kramer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Juris Doctor path will appeal to the other sect who are looking for a full-time experience. It\u2019s also designed to be completed in two and a half years rather than the standard three. This gets students to graduate earlier and therefore become licensed faster, Kramer said. It also lowers costs by effectively requiring one semester less of tuition.<\/p>\n

Elon Law\u2019s Greensboro program is intended to fully immerse its students in the local community. That\u2019s led to a lot of success in its 20 years, so Kramer hopes to apply those lessons as they put roots down in Charlotte.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the success we\u2019ve had and what we\u2019ve learned in the process to really make it a special program, we think that\u2019s a plus that we can expand and grow our network and really enjoy the relationships we\u2019ve created in Charlotte over the years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause although we\u2019ve been in Greensboro for 20 years, we\u2019ve always been in Charlotte in some sense because we\u2019ve always had graduates who are going to Charlotte, we\u2019ve had students who are doing internships in Charlotte. So we have strong relationships, and this is an opportunity to create more relationships, enjoy and strengthen the relationships we have and bring what I think is a very special form of legal education to a city that otherwise isn\u2019t educating lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Past law school education in Charlotte<\/p>\n

Prior to the flex program opening in 2024, Charlotte was the largest city in the country without a law school. But Charlotte wasn\u2019t always a law school desert. The state\u2019s largest city once also boasted the largest law school in the Charlotte School of Law, founded in 2005 by the now defunct InfiLaw System.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charlotte Law operated for about 10 years until the American Bar Association placed it on probation in 2016 and ordered the school to inform students of \u201cfailings of its admissions policies and curriculum.\u201d<\/a> The government subsequently revoked its access to federal student loans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Students then filed a class action lawsuit in late 2016 against the school for misleading students and applicants when it did not abide by the ABA\u2019s order. The school was unable to requalify for its license once it expired in 2017, leading to its immediate closure.<\/p>\n

Lassiter recalled when InfiLaw first expressed interest in opening a law school in the city. Once the school opened, it was clear the for-profit, venture capital-backed company was going in a different direction than what was initially conveyed, Lassiter said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did not stay small. They didn\u2019t stay focused. They got kind of caught up in trying to grow as fast as they could to generate revenue and not necessarily maintain the integrity of the program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

National law school rankings are partially determined by bar passage rates and employment outcomes for graduates. While open, Charlotte Law sustained a number of low-performing stats in these areas that garnered criticism from the legal community, particularly because of its exorbitant price tag.<\/p>\n

WFAE reported in 2016<\/a> only 45% of Charlotte Law graduates passed the bar on their first attempt, a stark difference from the state average of about 65% at the time. And in 2014, just 34% of graduates found full-time jobs that required passing the bar. Of the school\u2019s last crew of graduates to take the bar in February 2018, zero out of 11 passed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Restoring legal education in Mecklenburg<\/p>\n

Bringing a law school back to the Charlotte area, especially one as established as Elon, creates opportunities to grow networks and engagement in a new place seeing as students are likely to practice in the area they attended school, Kramer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes a huge difference to kind of do your education in the place where you\u2019re going to be,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that really matters, and the law school is excited to be doing its part. I mean, more generally, Elon is eager to provide educational opportunities that will benefit Charlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elon isn\u2019t the only higher education institution eyeing Charlotte for graduate programs. Wake Forest University welcomed its first class of medical students to its Charlotte campus<\/a> in 2025, making it the first four-year medical school in the city. UNC-Chapel Hill\u2019s prestigious business school<\/a> also began offering an MBA program based in Charlotte in 2022, the university\u2019s first expansion beyond Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n

Stone said Elon\u2019s decision and the expansion of other institutions\u2019 educational programs speaks to Charlotte\u2019s rapid growth and identity as a young, vibrant city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at the population growth we\u2019ve had over time, you look at the number of companies that have moved to the region and, in many cases, relocating headquarters,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a booming city. And with that comes people who are looking to further their education and have additional job opportunities. So naturally, you\u2019re going to see an interest in MBA programs, in law programs and in medical school.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mecklenburg Bar Association looks for ways to support legal aid and advocacy programs, and groups like Legal Aid of North Carolina and the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy are experiencing somewhat of a funding crunch at the moment, Stone said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The local legal scene has been looking for ways to support those organizations and others geared toward increasing access to justice regardless of people\u2019s ability to pay. Part of that is ensuring there are an abundance of well-trained attorneys available to them, so Stone views Elon\u2019s new venture as a piece of that puzzle.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the vantage point I have on serving at the bar, I see adding a high-quality law school to the community is only going to make the city and county a better, stronger place, andI look forward to finding ways to collaborate with them and in doing that,\u201d Stone said.<\/p>\n

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