South Carolina law school may be on the verge of collapse after just 12 years in operation

Adding more ominous news to the discussion over the health of law schools, South Carolina's Charleston School of Law may be on its way to closing its doors.

Two of the school's founders and retired magistrates, Robert Carr and George Kosko, said Thursday they weren't accepting new first-year law students in the fall.

"We cannot in good faith enroll another class when, like last year, the school is spending more money than is coming in ... and when we cannot be sure the school will be able to maintain its license and stay open," Carr and Kosko said in a statement.

They added: "We are heartbroken with this situation. It was the dream for the two of us to build an ABA-accredited law school."

A for-profit law school founded in 2003, Charleston has been "in turmoil" since its owners announced in 2013 that it might be sold to education company Infilaw, Charleston's Post and Courier reported in March. It doesn't appear the sale ever went through, but that turmoil may have damaged the school when the entire legal industry is having a tough time.

Charleston Law's recent announcement comes amid a wave of reports about dismal prospects for law school graduates and what's been described as a glut of lawyers in the market. In June, a report from the National Association for Law Placement found the employment rate for the class of 2013 was just 84.5%.

At Charleston law, just over half of 2014 graduates have jobs requiring a law degree, according to the school.

We reached out to Charleston Law for comment and will update this post if we hear back.