Can one go to law school school with a real serious misdemeanor conviction?

Question

I know I'll probably be judged pretty harshly for my following question, but I'll pose this question anyway. I'll give full details. A couple years ago, I was a knucklehead and got myself into a serious predicament, namely I was arrested in a drug raid. I was subsequently charged with Possession of Cocaine with Intent(Class B Felony) and Use of a Firearm in a Control Substance Offense. Because of my lack of a criminal past, and me being young, and a good student, and having a decent lawyer; I plead to a Class D felony possession, and was sentenced to 3 years probation, which I completed successfully. I then petitioned the court to reduce the crime to a misdemeanor and the motion was granted. My question is even though this is my only crime, it's extremely serious. I was wondering if I had a shot at decent law school or am I finished? I'll be graduating soon, and that whole experience has been the reason for me wanting to go to law schoool? Even then will C&F laugh at my application?

I have no intentions on becoming a prosecutor, as matter of fact it's quite the contrary, I want to be a public defender then go on and do private criminal law. I have no intentions on not revealing this to law schools, that would be stupid.

Lastly, the misnomer with drug convictions and students loans are that you can't get a loan with a drug conviction. Thats not true. You lose elgibility for a year for posession conviction and two for intent.

Answer 1

By my guestimation you will have at least 8 years between the crime and when you apply for admission to the bar.

The crime you committed did not involve dishonesty (fraud, perjury) nor one of moral turpitude (murder, rape). And occured when you were young and stupid.

You plead guilty, took responsiblity for your actions, turned your life around. As long as you keep your nose clean I don't see why you would not be admitted to the bar.

The bar realizes young people make mistakes are are quite forgiving of youthful indiscetions. They are considerably less tolerant of law students make the same mistakes and even more so adult lawyers.

However, a second screw up, or in anyway failing to disclose the full details of your past behavior will prevent you from sitting for the bar.

When you apply for law school don't just mention the serious misdemeanor, explain what you were charged with, what you plead to and how it was later reduced. Like you did here. If you make any attempt to hide info you will not be able to become a lawyer.

(Everybody thinks all lawyers are criminals anyway, might as well have a few bonifide ones)

Added note - as for Michael M.'s comments. I suspect if this experience is why you are going to law school your career plans are not corporate lawyer, but public defender or ADA. In which case it doesn't matter what law school you go to. The snobs at some law schools think if you are not whoring yourself to a fortune 100 company, for megabucks defending their "right" to pollute or manufacture dangerous products, but actually promoting justice then you are not a successful lawyer.

Mike M- The experince I am refering to is the questioners brush with the law. He said that is why he is going to law school. I concluded based on that he was probably thinking crime defense, but it was remotely possible he was thinking ADA. I got bad news for you, PD salaries do not vary based on what law school you went to. At some law firms they might. And a tier one law school actually makes it harder to get a job as a PD, then a tier three or four, because at the lower tiers the education is based on skills based not theory based. And the world would do fine without us. Lawyers are like nuclear weapons, you need one because the other side has them, not because they make the world a better place. That is why I am going into either legal aid or PD to provide legal representation for the oppressed. The reason why people hate lawyers is so many of them like you are focused on how much money they can make. That is why I hope the questioner does go to law school, we need more attys that enter the profession for a reason other than money, such as justice.

Answer 2

A friend of mine went through a similar situation only it was a white collar crime, i.e. unauthorized use of a company account to purchase a computer for they paid for before the "action" was discovered. They filed Class C felony forgery charges on the person as well as Class D theft charges, i.e., because the act was unauthorized and the person took the modem, it was considered theft. The person did 2 yrs in prison and 6 yrs on probation a FIRST TIME offender. This person has successfully had the record sealed for "employment purposes" and is now teaching in the field of Corrections. Many states will allow you to practice law with a criminal misdemeanor but depends on when, circumstances, etc. What will be in your favor is that the court decided in your favor. Good Luck!

Answer 3

There is nothing to prevent you from going to law school - colleges are private or public institutions that teach classes and grade student's performance and they don't care if you are a convicted felon, so the question to your direct answer is no.
I think what you are getting at though is whether any state bar association will admit you based on your past. (and if they won't, it is money wasted) Given that you have shown compliance with your court orders, did your probation and got the thing plead down to a misdemeanor I think the answer would be yes, but before I spent 3 yrs of my life in law school sweating the books I would find out. Call the bar examiners in your state and explain to them what you set forth and ask them if that is OK. I think they will tell you assuming you stay out of trouble you should be fine, but find out. P.S. DO NOT fail to disclose anything on your bar application!! The states all do an FBI background check and they WILL FIND IT so be honest about everything and say it was stupid and behind you and I think you will be fine. Lie about it on the application and you will never get in. Good luck and congratulations on turning your life around!!

Answer 4

Yes I have about six years ago or so. I was actually at lunch they had a m22 bullet found on the cafeteria floor and while I was at lunch a couple of cops walked in. We thought it was nothing sometimes they like checking up on our school. Then as we prepared to start our next class the Super attendant made an announcement that both the Middle and High School were placed on Lock down. We didn't know what was going on and we were really nervous because the Virginia Tech shooting happened not too long before. We ended up leaving the school at like quarter of six while the entire schools were searched. The FBI SWAT police state police you name it they were there. To this day I am very grateful it wasn't anything more serious and that everyone was okay.

Answer 5

You've got some good advice there - I agree you'll be able to go to a law school but may have more trouble actually getting licensed. It will limit you job-wise, but only in a few areas. You are not likely to be a prosecutor, for example.

One more thing -- you will likely not be able to get any kind of government-backed student loans. The government cracked down on student loans for people with drug convictions years ago, so perhaps you need to also check that out if you can't pay your own way as you go.

Answer 6

Some law school will accept you, but it may not be your first choice. Most law schools require an essay as part of the application. That will be your golden opportunity to spin this sordid to experience into a positive, that has changed your character and made you an even better candidate for law school.

But beware, this will also come up when you apply to the state bar for admission after finishing school. You will need to give them all of the facts. What they are looking to keep our are persons who have committed crimes of "moral turpitude". This usually involves some form of dishonesty--fraud, perjury, theft.

Don't try to hide it and don't lie about it. It will only come back to bite you.

Good luck.

Answer 7

I agree with the answerer above, the issue is not so much law school as bar admission. Locate someone on the Character and Fitness Committee (or whatever it's called there) for the bar of the state where you'd like to practice law after you graduate, and ask him/her if folks with similar records have successfully gained admission in the past.

Answer 8

Coming from a law student, I will be straight up with you. Its going to matter- big time. You will definitely be able to get into A law school. But to be able to get a good job out of school they look at what school you went to. If its not a top law school in your state or the top 20 in the nation, then you may have to settle with a not so great job.

Back to your question, There are more law students in law school then there are lawyers in the US. What this means is that because of the students on mass trying to get into the top 20 schools, its extremely competitive, so if someone has the same credentials as you but no criminal record they wont choose you.

The bad thing too, is if your state allows you to expunge your record, the school will still find out what you were convicted of because they do an FBI grade background check. Even if your grades and LSAT scores are top notch the conviction will show up. You can state in your essay that you were a troubled youth and turned your life around, but still its very competitive and a personal essay will only go so far. You have to look at the numbers here, thousands of people apply to the top schools and they only take 300-400.

But if you really want to be a lawyer you can go to a not so well known law school, and still get your law degree and practice law. Look at Judge Mathis he was convicted of a felony in his youth, but then again this was 20 years back when law school wasnt as competitive.

Bottom line if you really want to do it, then you must concentrate on getting outstanding grades on your undergrad and high scores (160+) on your LSAT to set you apart.

EDIT: Response to "me". What experience are you referring to? Lawyers understand and so do recruiters for law firms, it matters quite a bit on starting salaries which you would want to get a good one because you need to pay back loans. what law school you go to DOES matter no matter what you decide to specialize in. Im not going to get into politics, everyone thinks lawyers are evil but guess what, the world couldnt function without them. And if you were in trouble the first person you will call is a lawyer.

Edit to "me" your an ignorant person to begin with and to even begin to think why I got into law. You are the type that probably got a free ride. Tell me, did you serve two tours in Iraq and see people get blown up, and receive numerous commendation medals, and then coming back to base to do homework at night? I bet not pal. Just because I worked my *** off to get where I am today, i am suddenly evil because I expect top compensation for my efforts. Thats good for you go ahead and make low money if that makes you happy. Who ever said money doesnt buy happiness, doesnt have money. Also your right about PD and ADA, they do get paid the same no matter what, but if you go into any field other then that, it depends where you go school. So go ahead and go on a crusade to save people from lawyers.Remember something, lawyers shape society bottom line, look at the Supreme Court and landmark cases that make the US not segregated. We can go back in forth, but dont think you know me my friend. I wont be tempted into a stupid debate over money and lawyers. Have fun.

Answer 9

I do not know. I would think you would have to explain your felony conviction. Sounds to me like you would make a good lawyer. You got out of that mess.

Answer 10

Criminal Records Search Database : http://CriminalRecords.InfoSearchDetective.com