11/18/05
Citing Disciplinary Actions on your Law School Application
For those of you currently applying to law schools, you will have noticed that you are frequently requested to disclose whether you have had any disciplinary infractions imposed upon you or have a history of misconduct. This is a sensitive issue that must be dealt with carefully and honestly.
Barbara Andelman from Case School of Law has some excellent insights on this:
Applicants really need to read the application questions pertaining to misconduct carefully, and make sure to answer each school’s specific questions correctly.
The questions vary widely from school to school. For example, the question on our application specifically states that expunged offenses must be disclosed. Another school may specifically exempt such matters. Precise reading of the questions on the application is a must.
Students will often seek advice from an attorney on whether an expunged matter needs to be disclosed and are told incorrectly that they need not disclose expunged offenses. Although this is true, for example, in the employment context, it is not true in the context of applying for admission to a school.
The effect on an applicant’s chances for admission based on disclosure of the offense is almost never as bad as the repercussions for failing to disclose. So I always advise folks: read the question carefully and respond honestly. (I’m the person at my school who signs off on our graduates’ character and fitness certificates for the bar exam, and every year I have graduating third-years who failed to disclose a matter that would have had no impact on our decision to admit them, but whose ability to take the bar exam is in jeopardy because of their decision not to disclose.)
