A former Monterey College of Law student takes on his alma mater in court.

In James Camper’s telling, he’s wanted to be an attorney forever – “since I was knee-high.” But it seemed unlikely. “It started off as a distant dream. I come from limited resources, from a small town in the Deep South.”

Camper’s aspiration eventually began to look attainable. He graduated from Atlanta Metropolitan State College, then moved to Los Angeles with hopes of practicing employment law in employee-friendly California. He got a job working for Uber’s corporate office onboarding new drivers, and enrolled at Pacific Coast University in Long Beach, where he attended two years of law school.

Then the pandemic struck, and he transferred to Monterey College of Law, planning to complete his Juris Doctor degree at an institution prepared to teach virtually.

He was laid off and stopped paying his tuition payments, while struggling to collect unemployment, he says.

Camper is exactly the type of student MCL aims to serve. Dean Mitch Winick declined to speak about details in this story, citing student confidentiality protections. But he has long championed efforts to increase diversity among California lawyers, including on the basis of income. He advocates for changes to the bar exam. In May of 2020, MCL determined that no student would be dismissed for financial reasons due to the pandemic. The college offered emergency grants of $1,500.

But even a generous institution has its limits. “It certainly is not your fault that EDD is backlogged, but in all fairness, it is not the law school’s fault either and yet we are being asked to fund your education while you are out of work and awaiting EDD payments,” Winick wrote to Camper. “This is not a financial arrangement our nonprofit law school is set up to provide.”

As early as October 2021, Camper was advised that he would not graduate due to his outstanding debt: “You have not met the graduation requirement of being in financial good standing,” MCL’s attorney, Chris Panetta, wrote to him in an email.

Camper, meanwhile, continued falling behind on his tuition payments, but continued his coursework. He registered to sit for the bar exam.

Just a few weeks before the test, Camper received an email from the California State Bar: “You have not been issued a Juris Doctor degree by Monterey College of Law.” Therefore, he would not qualify to take the exam.

What ensued was a battle over how to interpret California Assembly Bill 1313, passed unanimously by the State Legislature in 2019. The Educational Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits institutions of higher education from withholding student transcripts if a student owes the school money. “The problem with withholding transcripts is that it can be a barrier to a student getting a job or license, or furthering their education at another institution, thereby potentially leading the student into a greater cycle of debt,” per an Assembly analysis.

Camper claims MCL is violating AB 1313; MCL claims they comply by releasing transcripts, strictly speaking, and there is no requirement to grant a degree. (Camper’s research revealed a host of similar institutions that interpret AB 1313 to require they grant degrees, regardless of student debt.)

In February of 2022, Camper sued MCL. His belief is that with a JD, he’ll earn enough to pay what he owes, although he’s missed a lot of milestones.

A legal battle, in which Camper is representing himself, has followed in Monterey County Superior Court. In May of 2021, Camper agreed to a payment plan. When he missed a payment, the college filed a countersuit against him for breach of contract.

By October of 2022, Camper and MCL agreed to a settlement with a payment plan; he would pay $37,849.57 over two years.

Then he missed the first payment – due to severe injuries from a scooter accident, according to court papers – and the college filed a motion seeking a court order requiring him to pay up. A judge is set to rule on the matter Friday, June 23.

If he loses, Camper says he’ll appeal. “I just want to be a lawyer, I just want to make myself proud and make my family proud,” he says. “I really didn’t think it would be this long or arduous a road.”

He might not be able to become an attorney, but he gets to act like one in a legal saga.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com