The Bar Application: When Not To Disclose

It seems no matter how much I write on the Bar Application process, the question of disclosure continues to rear it's head as the most asked.

I have the answer.

Ready?

"They will find out."

Every time.

This is 2010, information is readily available. The minute the question "should I disclose./..." comes our of your mouth, the answer is "yes."

Always disclose.

This of course is mostly an issue with whether something is actually a "conviction," or whether you think the Bar will find out because you determined with a phone call that the records do not exist.

In my opinion, here's why you disclose:

[1] If they find out from someone other than you, it's a problem.

[2] If you disclose in a situation where you think you do not need to, it makes you look like an open book, unafraid of your past.

[3] IF you didn't need to disclose - so what?

This applies to life in general. Really.

Located in Miami, Florida, Brian Tannebaum practices Bar Admission and Discipline and Criminal Defense. He is the author of I Got A Bar Complaint.