My son wants to go to law school but he has a criminal record from a different country. Can he take the bar? ?

[jorian23]

Anyone can take the bar, it demonstrates what you know. You just have to pay to take it

[tripp]

He will need to address this conviction with each law school he applies to. He will need a very strong GPA, LSAT Score and amazing letters of recommendation. A conviction is not necessarily a prohibition of attending law school, or of being a member of a state bar association.... however lying about it is grounds for denial of admssion or expulsion.

When he applies for his character and moral fitness (every state requires you pass one to be admitted to the bar) he will need to be honest about it and submit all documentation. If it is a crime that shows bad morals/character = embezzlement, murder things like that there's a good chance he will be denied admission. What he should do is (assuming he goes to law school full time -3 years) prepare and submit his moral chararacter application the beginning of his third year so he will know whether or not he can sit for that particular state's bar exam after he graduates. Lying about it is grounds for non-admission or expulsion from the bar.

He can probably get all sorts of informaiton on LSAC.ORG. He can also probably contact the state bar for each state he's interested in and get some specific information from those states.
... what concerns me is that YOU, his mommy are asking about it instead of your SON - assuming he's an adult - the one who wants to go to law school... HE needs to take the initiative in finding out what he needs to do. No one will do it for him once he's in school or out in the real world.

[eoforwic]

A criminal record is a very big deal, and in many instances will prevent the person from being admitted to practice even if the person graduates law school and sits for the bar exam and passes it. Law schools will be able to advise your son as to what will be a complete bar to admission, what might be a problem, and what won't be a problem. It depends a lot on the crime and the totality of the circumstances.

By the way, some people think they can simply lie on the extensive application for admission. Well, those applications are very carefully reviewed, and any questions investigated. Further, even if a person lies and isn't prevented from admission, if it turns out even years later that a person lied on his/her application, the person can be disbarred for the lie.

[tripp]

Yes he can go to law school but before anything he should read all the details on this site to enlighten him of what really to do before to pursue.
The most stressful part of the application process isn't the essay or the LSAT. It's answering a question like this:disclosure of a criminal record or offense.
But have 2nd good thing to be done is to have a copy of all his background criminal record in order have a complete details for future reference and used.


Hope this a help!
God Bless!
If need more details just follow the link below.

[clem84]

Let me correct everyone on here. You have to have a Juris Doctor (JD) from an ABA approved law school to sit for the bar exam in almost every state (the few that allow people without law degrees to take the bar have stringent requirements for apprenticeships that take longer than earning a law degree anyway). And no you would not be taking the bar from prison, as felons may not take the bar in nearly every state.

Secondly, state bar associations typically do what's called character and fitness. They will look at criminal history and determine if they think he is fit to practice law before he is allowed to take the exam.

[nicolas]

One has nothing to do with the other. People in Prisons take the bar and pass it.

[shaddoc98]

Yes but him finding work in certaint places may be tough dew to how bad it is when an where was it