Georgia has a process to review and appropriately act on complaints concerning Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. The Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission (GNPEC) serves as the designated recipient of complaints from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School (AJMLS) students. Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School seeks to handle all student complaints fairly, promptly, and professionally. GNPEC will not investigate a student complaint unless the student has exhausted all internal grievance procedures and obtained a final determination on the complaint from the law school. GNPEC’s complaint proceedings are designed to address non-compliance with GNPEC’s standards and are not intended to involve GNPEC in matters pertaining to the following: a student’s admission to or graduation from an institution; academic issues and/or the application of academic policies; financial matters, including fees charged by the institution; a student’s contractual rights or an institution’s contractual obligations; or disciplinary matters. GNPEC will not review complaints about such issues unless GNPEC determines that the context suggests unprofessional or unethical behavior that seriously impairs the educational program of a GNPEC school. GNPEC has no jurisdiction or authority over employment law issues or discrimination claims. Such complaints should be directed to the appropriate federal or state agency. Federal financial aid matters should be directed to the United States Department of Education. The form for filing a complaint with GNPEC and the requirements for filing a complaint with GNPEC are available here: https://gnpec.georgia.gov/student-resources/student-complaints).
Additionally, as an ABA-accredited law school, Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School is subject to the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools. The ABA Standards may be found here. Any student at the law school who wishes to bring a formal complaint to the administration of the law school of a significant problem that directly implicates the school’s program of legal education and its compliance with ABA Standards should do the following:
- Submit the complaint in writing to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs. If the Associate Dean for Academic Programs is not available, then to the Associate Dean of Student Affairs. The written complaint may be submitted via email, U.S. mail, or fax.
- The writing should describe in detail the behavior, program, process, or other matter that is the subject of the complaint, and should explain how the matter implicates the law school’s program of legal education and its compliance with a specific, identified ABA Standard.
- The writing must provide the name, official law school e-mail address, and a street address of the complaining student, for further communication about the complaint.
- The Associate Dean for Academic Programs or the Associate Dean of Student Affairs will acknowledge the complaint within three business days of receipt of the written complaint. Acknowledgment may be made by e-mail, U.S. mail, or personal delivery, at the option of the Associate Dean.
- Within two weeks of acknowledgment of the complaint, the Associate Dean, or the Associate Dean’s designee, shall either meet with the complaining student, or respond to the substance of the complaint in writing. In this meeting or in this writing, the student will either receive a substantive response to the complaint, or information about the steps that are being taken by the law school to address the complaint or further investigate the complaint. If further investigation is needed, the student shall be provided either a substantive response to the complaint or information about the steps that are being taken by the law school to address the complaint within two weeks of completion of the investigation.
- Appeals regarding decisions on complaints may be taken to the Dean of the law school. Any decision made on appeal by the Dean shall be final.
- A copy of the complaint and a summary of the process and resolution of the complaint shall be kept in the office of the Associate Dean for Academic Programs for a period of ten years from the date of final resolution of the complaint.
For Georgia residents enrolled in our online LL.M. programs, please click here for more information regarding the student complaint process. If you are a non-resident, please click here and here for more information regarding the student complaint process.