A Kentucky law school announced on Wednesday that it would close at the end of 2008, after a difficult year that included a lawsuit brought by its students, a declared bankruptcy, a name change, and overwhelming debt.

According to The National Law Journal, the for-profit Barkley School of Law, formerly the American Justice School of Law, now has just 10 full- and part-time students.

Last November the American Justice School was sued by its students for mismanagement. They said administrators had delayed student loans and misled students about the institution’s accreditation status. The owners eventually agreed to sell the college in a settlement earlier this year.

The decision to close the college was “unavoidable,” according to a statement that a current owner, Laxmaiah Manchikanti, released on Wednesday. The American Justice School, with $6-million in debts, declared bankruptcy in September, and Barkley will do so before it closes. —Reeves Wiedeman