Starting A Firm Right Out Of School

Handle Law School Application Disclosures With Care

“What they don’t know can’t hurt them.”
Yeah… but it could come back and bite you.  
That’s particularly true of the “disclosure question” on your law school application. If you’ve ever run afoul of the law – whether it was a speeding ticket or a DUI – your law school may want to know. And your state bar will certainly be interested once you’ve finished school. Just ask Zachary Jesse of the University of Richmond’s T.C. Williams School of Law, who may be unable to practice law in the State of Virginia after being convicted of sexual assault a decade ago.
So what’s a minor infraction and what’s an offense that could cost you admissions? That’s the question addressed by Shawn O’Connor, an honors graduate of both the Harvard Business School and Harvard School of Law. In his latest U.S. News and World Report column, O’Connor, who operates Veritas Prep, a leading test preparation and admissions counseling firm, advises students to either disclose minor violations or seek legal counsel on how to answer the disclosure question.
In particular, O’Connor emphasizes these three points in making your decision on how to answer:
1) Know Your History: You probably wouldn’t view yourself as a “criminal.” There are always extenuating circumstances and gray areas. And was it really that serious? According to O’Connor, you should still “obtain all documentation possible on the incident so you can compare it with the question.” He adds that you should also examine “how it is represented on your record” or if it is even represented on it. If anything, seek legal counsel on that matter. Better safe than sorry.
2) Read The Question: Not every law school phrases the question the same or expects the same information. For example, O’Connor notes that “some schools want every detail, from the speeding ticket you got in high school to informal misconduct.” Others may not expect such detail, provided the incident has been wiped off your record. As a result, O’Connor encourages you to read the question carefully to determine what needs to be disclosed.
3) Don’t Take A Risk: When in doubt, write it out. Small offenses, such as a traffic violation, won’t hinder your candidacy from O’Connor’s perspective. Chances are, members of the admissions team have a ticket for speeding or a missed turn signal on their records too. When it comes to something more serious, here are the potential repercussions to concealing an incident:
“…if you choose to omit something in your past that was covered under the disclosure question, you may be denied admission. If you omit something that is not discovered by the law school, even if you mistakenly believed it was not relevant to the question, it could present an issue in being admitted to the bar.
State boards of admissions to the bar require everyone to submit a thorough character and fitness questionnaire, and they have access to your law school application. If details do not match up, you may not be admitted to the bar and could even have your law degree – on which you may have spent three years and significant tuition – withdrawn.
Even if you have something to hide, disclose it. At worst, you won’t get into your choice school. As Branigan Robertson noted earlier, it won’t matter where you went to school once you start practicing. The only things that’ll matter is if you can connect with your clients and win their cases.
Source: U.S. News and World Report