felony as a minor Forum

[Zara]

well if it sounds comical, that is because the whole situation was somewhat comical. I have not fudged the facts to make it appear that way. I simply stated it exactly as it happened and i'm not sure that it will be a bad thing if it comes off as comical to the admissions committee since that is how it actually was.

[LawandOrder]

I hope you beat the shit out of that third kid that snitched on you and your friend to get a misdeameanor.

[Zara]

so the BC app asks "Have you ever been convicted of a felony and that conviction has not been vacated?"

The answer to this question is no because my conviction has been expunged. Do you all recommend I disclose to this school anyway?

[fl0w]

so the BC app asks "Have you ever been convicted of a felony and that conviction has not been vacated?"

The answer to this question is no because my conviction has been expunged. Do you all recommend I disclose to this school anyway?

i'm not an attorney, but to my knowledge the term "vacated" means that it was overruled or voided. as you described it, that is not the case for you. It was not vacated, it was expunged meaning the decision was not overruled or voided, the record was just removed or sealed.

I'm just going by the technical meaning of the word, since you are trying to avoid disclosure by the technical phrasing of the question. So... technically you would still have to disclose.

Technicalities aside, I would say that you would want to disclose for consistency.

[Zara]

I'm not trying to avoid disclosing. I have scores well above the averages at this school and I don't think my disclosure will hurt me here. I was simply asking if that meant I shouldn't send it. I have already sent it to schools much higher on my list than BC with no reservations, so why would I try to avoid sending it to a safety school?

I am not sure of the meaning of "vacate" here but I thought it would refer to anything that has been erased or voided. I asked a friend who is in law school and he agreed.

I will just answer yes to the question and disclose to be safe.

[jackgrf]

you need to disclose. the thing is that this felony might harm you in the future. my friends who have gone to law school said that for every job you take (including 1L jobs) they run a background check on you . i'd really check things out before you commit a ton of money to a career that you might not even be able to have

[Zara]

you need to disclose. the thing is that this felony might harm you in the future. my friends who have gone to law school said that for every job you take (including 1L jobs) they run a background check on you . i'd really check things out before you commit a ton of money to a career that you might not even be able to have

wow way to be encouraging. I know they do employment background checks for all jobs...but those checks don't allow them to see expunged juvenile records. The bar has priveleges that individual law firms do not have so I don't think you are right in assuming I have little chance of having a career because of this. I already disclosed to all of my schools, but thanks for your input.

[jackgrf]

you need to disclose. the thing is that this felony might harm you in the future. my friends who have gone to law school said that for every job you take (including 1L jobs) they run a background check on you . i'd really check things out before you commit a ton of money to a career that you might not even be able to have

wow way to be encouraging. I know they do employment background checks for all jobs...but those checks don't allow them to see expunged juvenile records. The bar has priveleges that individual law firms do not have so I don't think you are right in assuming I have little chance of having a career because of this. I already disclosed to all of my schools, but thanks for your input.

i thought we were supposed to offer legitimate advice, not offer false hope. i'm saying that for certain types of jobs you are probably already locked out because of the nature of your felony..."terroristic threatening." for example, you might never be able to work for JAG or for the federal government and the gov can probably see your entire record. i'm pretty sure your record needs to be squeaky clean to land a job with the government. it's probably not as stringent for private work, but you should check before you commit yourself to 200k worth of debt.

[Zara]

you need to disclose. the thing is that this felony might harm you in the future. my friends who have gone to law school said that for every job you take (including 1L jobs) they run a background check on you . i'd really check things out before you commit a ton of money to a career that you might not even be able to have

wow way to be encouraging. I know they do employment background checks for all jobs...but those checks don't allow them to see expunged juvenile records. The bar has priveleges that individual law firms do not have so I don't think you are right in assuming I have little chance of having a career because of this. I already disclosed to all of my schools, but thanks for your input.

i thought we were supposed to offer legitimate advice, not offer false hope. i'm saying that for certain types of jobs you are probably already locked out because of the nature of your felony..."terroristic threatening." for example, you might never be able to work for JAG or for the federal government and the gov can probably see your entire record. i'm pretty sure your record needs to be squeaky clean to land a job with the government. it's probably not as stringent for private work, but you should check before you commit yourself to 200k worth of debt.

well fortunately I am not interested in working for JAG or the federal government so I'll be fine. There are plenty of lawyers out there who have records as bad or worse than my own so I have no doubt that I will find a decent job somewhere.

[loser148]

As silly as this sounds, PLEASE ask an attorney before submitting.
This is much too important to ask about on a forum!

Oh, and get the answer in writing!

[Mr. Pablo]

This is not going to hurt you in any way whatsoever.
Its not like you raped someone or defrauded your elderly neighbor, or raped and defrauded your elderly neighbor after breaking into her home and robbing her, then mutilated her cat - that kind of conviction would hurt you.
Some ultimately harmless dumb shit you did as a kid? Disclose as a formality and be done with it.

[fl0w]

As silly as this sounds, PLEASE ask an attorney before submitting.
This is much too important to ask about on a forum!

Oh, and get the answer in writing!

sorry, but i don't see what good that would possibly do.

if you ask the attorney and they say "yes this is a problem, you should disclose". then you disclose.
if you ask and they say "no you should not disclose" and you don't, then that doesn't matter if the law school does not agree with the attorney's opinion.

and getting it in writing? irrelevant.

[postitnotes]

This is not going to hurt you in any way whatsoever.
Its not like you raped someone or defrauded your elderly neighbor, or raped and defrauded your elderly neighbor after breaking into her home and robbing her, then mutilated her cat - that kind of conviction would hurt you.
Some ultimately harmless dumb shit you did as a kid? Disclose as a formality and be done with it.

...When I got my judicial externship at a federal courthouse they ran a background check. There will be some summer jobs that OP will be locked out of.

[keg411]

This is not going to hurt you in any way whatsoever.
Its not like you raped someone or defrauded your elderly neighbor, or raped and defrauded your elderly neighbor after breaking into her home and robbing her, then mutilated her cat - that kind of conviction would hurt you.
Some ultimately harmless dumb shit you did as a kid? Disclose as a formality and be done with it.

...When I got my judicial externship at a federal courthouse they ran a background check. There will be some summer jobs that OP will be locked out of.

OP said he had background checks before and it didn't come up. The record is sealed and he was a juvenile. I really doubt it's going to kill his future.

ETA: This has nothing to do with disclosure. OP should disclose.

[postitnotes]

This is not going to hurt you in any way whatsoever.
Its not like you raped someone or defrauded your elderly neighbor, or raped and defrauded your elderly neighbor after breaking into her home and robbing her, then mutilated her cat - that kind of conviction would hurt you.
Some ultimately harmless dumb shit you did as a kid? Disclose as a formality and be done with it.

...When I got my judicial externship at a federal courthouse they ran a background check. There will be some summer jobs that OP will be locked out of.

OP said he had background checks before and it didn't come up. The record is sealed and he was a juvenile. I really doubt it's going to kill his future.

ETA: This has nothing to do with disclosure. OP should disclose.

Can't the federal government see everything?

I just think people should err on the side of caution. I think the OP will be alright with most jobs, but who knows about others.

[loser148]

This is not going to hurt you in any way whatsoever.
Its not like you raped someone or defrauded your elderly neighbor, or raped and defrauded your elderly neighbor after breaking into her home and robbing her, then mutilated her cat - that kind of conviction would hurt you.
Some ultimately harmless dumb shit you did as a kid? Disclose as a formality and be done with it.

...When I got my judicial externship at a federal courthouse they ran a background check. There will be some summer jobs that OP will be locked out of.

OP said he had background checks before and it didn't come up. The record is sealed and he was a juvenile. I really doubt it's going to kill his future.

ETA: This has nothing to do with disclosure. OP should disclose.

Can't the federal government see everything?

I just think people should err on the side of caution. I think the OP will be alright with most jobs, but who knows about others.

depends on technology at time of disclosure...

[Zara]

OP is a girl (i think it is kind of funny that everyone assumes I'd be a guy, haha). Also I have had background checks for standard employment as well as FBI background checks for a work abroad program with the Japanese government. Nothing has ever come up. Apparently the government can open my file but only under certain conditions. While, yes, there is the possibility that I will be locked out of some jobs, that does not preclude me from becoming a lawyer or being able to find employment in the kind of law i want to do so I am not worried. Besides there are plenty of people in government with criminal records...will it make it a little more difficult? yes maybe, but i don't think that is any reason for me to panic and start desperately looking for a different career.

[fl0w]

true, there are people in gov't with criminal records. but just like you said, some jobs are off limits. if you have a felony for example, you cannot be in the FBI.

if you are worried about if you can be a lawyer (be able to sit for bar) call bar associations in the states in which you will want to practice. they'll have the best answer for you. i don't think getting into a law school is the issue, and it'll depend on what you wanna do after school for your job.