Although I enjoy speaking with Bar applicants, the frequency of this question and subsequent discussion bring me to this post, which I hope will provide the answers.
LAW STUDENTS:
[1] If you are in law school and just realized through a conversation with a fellow student, professor, or while filling out your Bar application that you may have failed to disclose an arrest, DISCLOSE IT NOW. Otherwise known as AMEND YOUR APPLICATION. Go to the Admissions office and find out the proper procedure.
[2] DISCLOSE IT NOW. AMEND YOUR LAW SCHOOL APPLICATION No, don't think about whether you will be kicked out of law school, DISCLOSE IT NOW. AMEND YOUR APPLICATION.
[3] If the proper procedure is to "tell" a Dean, when you go to "tell" a Dean, bring with you a letter disclosing the arrest. This way when you are at your Bar hearing for failing to disclose, you won't have to try and remember when and where you "told a Dean."
[4] You are not the first person in the world or at your law school to fail to disclose an arrest. Get over it.
[5] Whether you failed to disclose because you had a sealed or expunged record and thought you didn't have to, or you were embarrassed, acknowledge the reason. Remember, at the moment you first attempt to fix your mistake, you are showing the Bar your candor and fitness to practice law.
[6] Whatever the law school requires you to do as "punishment" for failing to disclose, do it. Do not whine about it, try to get out of it, or not do it.
LAW SCHOOL GRADUATES
You have a little bit of a different problem. You now have a law degree. You wonder if they are going to take it away from you.
Probably not.
That's not legal advice or a prediction, that's just my thought based on my experience with this situation.
[1] DISCLOSE IT NOW. AMEND YOUR LAW SCHOOL APPLICATION.
[2] If you do not DISCLOSE IT NOW, AMEND YOUR LAW SCHOOL APPLICATION the Bar will ask you to do after you apply to the Bar (if they haven't already)
[3] If you want to wait to see if they "find out about it," you are an idiot. One of the first things state Bars do it get copies of your law school application.
[4] You grads will notify the law school in writing. You will tell them why you failed to disclose. You also will be completely open.
[5] If it was one small arrest, you will probably receive a letter, copied to the Bar, saying something like they "don't condone your behavior," but allowing you to move on with no scars.
[6] If it is an issue of several arrests, you will receive a letter, copied to the Bar, saying that you are a piece of crap liar undeserving of Bar admission, but you can keep your degree scumbag.
PRACTICING LAWYERS ADMITTED TO ONE BAR WHERE THEY NEVER REALIZED YOU DIDN'T DISCLOSE ON YOUR LAW SCHOOL APPLICATION BUT NOW YOU WANT TO APPLY TO ANOTHER BAR AND DON'T KNOW IF THE OTHER BAR WILL NOTICE THAT YOUR CURRENT BAR DIDN'T NOTICE
Yeah, that was an interesting one for me too.
Good luck, and DISCLOSE, NOW.
Located in Miami, Florida, Brian Tannebaum practices Bar Admission and Discipline and Criminal Defense. Read his free ebook The Truth About Hiring A Criminal Defense Lawyer. Please visit www.tannebaumweiss.com
4 comments:
If you failed to disclose expunged records, despite an instruction to disclose those records on your law school application, the laws of the state in which they are expunged may be important to your law school. Oregon law for instance provides that once records are expunged you are entitled to act as if they never existed in the first place. The Dean of the law school asked that this be researched and found that those laws would be helpful in the committee's determination as to sanctions. I wouldn't suggest going to the Dean guns blazing claiming that you had a right not to disclose, but if that is in fact the case, it might be something to mention . . . at least it was important in my case
One thing that I wonder about is the CLI program. If you have a blemish on your record that may trigger a character and fitness investigation and your employment is contingent on being able to qualify as CLI, what is going to happen if the Bar is still investigating you when your employment is scheduled to begin - seems to me that you're going to lose your job.
I failed to disclose an employment misconduct which happened in the 2009 when I applied to law school. What happened was I failed to charge for some food and drinks when I was working in the restaurant. Now, I may face severe penalty after earning a JD and passing the bar exam. I feel hopeless. What can I do?
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