COURT WORKS TO SUPPRESS ATTORNEY’S ACCESS TO ABA DELEGATION
FITSNews – February 19, 2008 – Although an official schedule for the American Bar Association (ABA)‘s late summer visit to South Carolina hasn’t even been published yet, the S.C. Supreme Court is already seeking to control which attorneys will be allowed to speak to the panel charged with determining the fate of the Charleston School of Law.
Last November, the Court issued its now infamous ruling to toss out an entire section of the state bar exam – a highly irregular move which coincidentally raised the Charleston School of Law’s passage rate to the precise level required by the ABA for full accreditation.
Receiving full accreditiation could be worth up to $50 million to the school’s owners.
Now, according to e-mails obtained exclusively by FITSNews, at least three South Carolina attorneys who have been critical of the Court’s actions in the past have been told that they will not be allowed to participate in the ABA’s visit. The Court’s Office of Disciplinary Council, which issued the rejections, also happens to be the sole regulator of the legal profession in South Carolina.
“We have filled all the interview slots,” Supreme Court Disciplinary Council Lesley M. Coggiola wrote to one of the attorneys requesting an audience with the ABA, adding that “this has been in the planning stages for some time.”
Two other attorneys forwarded FITSNews similarly terse e-mail rejections received from Coggiola.
“It’s unbelievable,” one attorney told us of the Court’s behavior. “They have closed the ABA interview list before it was ever even announced.”
Neither the ABA nor the Supreme Court were immediately available for comment.
By Diddi February 19, 2008 at 4:27 pm
How uncommon or extraordinary is this? Is there a past precedent for this kind of thing in S.C.?
By Kyle February 19, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Would you expect anything les from Jean Toal and Company?
By Question February 19, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Why doesn’t SC just create a separate board for the Bar like other states do? The Supreme Court should just stay out of things.
By Same old, same old.... February 19, 2008 at 8:50 pm
All those legislators who promised the run of the mill lawyers out there that Lee Coggiola would bring honesty, integrity and all that crap to Jean Toal’s camp, well, you’ve been had again. Coggiola has folded like a cheap tent when it came time to stand up to the Queen. Coggiola doesn’t know the rules, doesn’t care to learn them and is just going through the motions to get her three years in for the fat retirement. It was COGGIOLA who has banned the lawyers “they” don’t want to have access to the ABA panel.
By Pete February 19, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Thanks to Fitsnews, word got out at the SC Bar this afternoon that cutting folks off at the knees might not play well with the peasants. Bob Wells, executive director of the SC BAR was sending out emails this afternoon informing some lawyers who didn’t make Toal and Coggiola’s cut that they could scribble a little note to him with their concerns and he would try to get them to the panel. That’s sweet, Bob. Thanks. But the real thank you is to Fitsnews for letting people know.
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' ... February 19, 2008 at 10:38 pm
King Jean and its court jester, Lee Coggiola, continue to disgrace our supreme court and severely diminish the legal profession. Their personal reputations in tatters, they have nothing left to lose and will do anything to maintain the power they have so shockingly abused. This is truly a sad era in the history of the South Carolina judiciary and legal profession. At least in the process we’ve learned that our notorious “Good Ol’ Boy System” has plenty of room for women (or at least hybrids).
By StanD828 February 20, 2008 at 3:58 am
What’s the point of having the ABA down? Toal is just going to ignore their recommendations anyway. The disciplinary system in place now is a complete joke…they have all these secret committees and boards who review everything and make recommendations to the Court, but Queen Jean ignores them and does what she wants. And if the ODC disagrees with the committees, they just go straight to Toal and bitch about it until they get their way. So what’s the point of running things up through these committes other than to waste time and money? Other states sanction at a lower level so you can take an appeal upward at least one step if necessary…here you’re just SOL. And they are happy to tell you so.
By darkknight February 20, 2008 at 8:56 am
The point of having the ABA is to have them fully accredidate the Charleston School. While I was and am not in favor of what was done to give the chosen-20 a free pass, I am in favor of granting accredidation to the Charleston School of Law. USC law school has gotten old and stale – they need the competition.
Besides – IF Charleston School of law doesnt recieve accredidation then they CANT sit for any bar exam. Its the rules (which as past experience tells us – can be changed at the CJ’s will).
By shane February 21, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I must say this is rather inconclusive reporting. One unnamed attorney says he was not allowed to speak, shocking. You should be a little more thorough and a little less ambiguous in your reporting.
By Theresa February 22, 2008 at 10:10 am
Shane- what do you expect from a “reporter” who uses “cluster f*ck” in his rant against a political party. He is obviously very impartial and an amazing linguist! I mean, this HAS to be true, why would someone with no obvious agenda LIE?
By Pete February 25, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Shane, you ignorant fool: The alleged ABA “consulation” is to begin next week. There have been NO press reports on it, no invitations for honest evaluations or otherwise, no surveys done in advance to gather data, no announcements in the SC BAR publications or eblast, the online newsletter, no announcements of which select FOJ’s (Friends of Jean’s) are invited to canonize her before the ABA panel. Bob Wells -executive director of the SC BAR – can’t distance himself fast enough from Queen Jean and new servant girl, Lee Coggiola. BUT FOR Sic Willie and his snooping, nobody would even know about this alleged stab at integrity the Supremes are putting on. See if YOU can get Queen Jean or Lee C to return a call and explain it all to you. You know all the buzz words, openness, fairness, justice, integrity……. you have a better chance of getting the real story on the bar exam debacle. If they call you back, I’ll buy you a drink at Nightcaps.