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Bar Admissions Blog

Helping Bar Applicants Prove Character and Fitness for Admission to the Bar

The Weight of Debt

Q. By questioning an applicant's credit ratings or level of debt, aren't licensing boards creating a "means test" that discriminates against less affluent JDs?

Character Interviews

Q. I'm really nervous. I'm scheduled for an interview before a member of the character committee. Is this common? Should I have a lawyer with me? How should I handle this?

Passing Bars

Q. Before getting into AA, I had several DUIs and related offenses which I was too embarrassed to list on my law school application. But I've been sober for four years now. Will my alcoholism hurt me?

Unrecorded Offenses

Q. On spring break of my freshman year in college, I got caught for underage drinking and was detained by campus police for several hours. Nothing really became of it and I can't find a record of this anywhere. Must I put it on my application?

Technical Plagiarism

Q. Rushing to get a paper done, I failed to attribute a one-sentence passage to its original author or to use quotation marks. Despite this innocent error, my law school reprimanded me for "plagiarism." Will this technicality preclude my admission?

The Character Clock

Q. How far back do bar examiners go to investigate an applicant's character and fitness for admission to the practice of law?