How to Proceed w/Admissions Mistake?

ariesathena
Mon, 03 Dec 2012 01:12:45 +0000

Regarding bar admissions, my understanding is that non-disclosure is one of the biggest sins that you can commit. I know people who have had DUIs, assault and battery charges, drivers license revocations from reckless endangerment, the whole thing, and still been admitted to their state bars. Ultimately, those bar examiners weren’t worried that those people would steal client funds or defraud the court via non-disclosure or inaccurate disclosure. OTOH, the OP’s situation screams “bar admissions problems” - even if disclosed to the bar examiners - simply because many licensing committees are understandably quite skittish about admitting someone to practice who has a record of not disclosing vital information when required to do so by law.

This also raises the question: why does the OP want to be a lawyer, and why does (s)he think (s)he’ll use good judgement as an attorney?

My advice is to get this situation straightened out with your undergrad school first (and grovelling for mercy might be the most effective route), then wait several years to apply to law school. It will be easier to be admitted to law school, and a state bar, if this problem is in the distant past and is followed up by several years of clean living. Moreover (and I’m a lawyer, not a psychiatrist), I think it would be good for the OP to spend some time learning to function with bipolar before attempting law school, the bar, and a job as an attorney. This is not a statement about whether or not people with bipolar ought to be lawyers or law students, just an observation that it’s best to be at some sort of equilibrium in your life before throwing yourself into this profession. As of now, the OP has not even completed a full academic semester post-diagnosis.