Top Law Schools

If I was arrested for MIP, charged with MIP, and Convicted of MIP, and after completing probation, the charge was expunged, do I have to disclose?

Also, if I was arrested and charged with DUI, but in court, the charge was dropped to reckless driving, do I need to disclose DUI?

I got a criminal background check that said my record was completely clean, so should I disclose what doesnt exist?

I disclosed my dropped and expunged arrest on all my apps, even when apps said to only include convictions and/or not to include expunged matters. Good decision IMO, hasn't hurt me so far.

My apps say that I need to disclose all arrests and charges. However, my family says its pointless to disclose the MIP and DUI because there is no way adcoms can see them since theyre not on my record. My numbers suck, and my C&F will definitely play a role in my admissions, so should I disclose?

Duramax80 wrote: I got a criminal background check that said my record was completely clean, so should I disclose what doesnt exist?

If you don't think the above is relevant to C&F, there's some serious self deception going on. Why would you risk hiding something that could cause you to get disbarred in the middle of your career? No one gives a shit about MIP that was expunged, but people care very much about blatant deception.

Just disclose it. Schools aren't going to care about it.

Law schools aren't asking you what incidents appear on your public criminal record. They are (generally) asking if you have ever been arrested/charged/convicted of anything, and they usually don't qualify it with an exclusion to expunged matters. Yes, you can probably get away with omitting stuff to adcomms because they won't look up your criminal history, but when it comes time to take the bar - they have access to more than just public records, and they will want a good explanation for lying on your law school application.

Message received. Thanks for the input.

hey sorry to troll on here, but similar situation. I got a weed ticket my first week of freshman year (in California), and got it expunged. Will schools flip out about it, particularly ones on the east coast, where weed is still taboo?

gaucholaw wrote:hey sorry to troll on here, but similar situation. I got a weed ticket my first week of freshman year (in California), and got it expunged. Will schools flip out about it, particularly ones on the east coast, where weed is still taboo?

Schools get between 5500 and 8500 applications every cycle. I am entirely sure that 1) they do not care one bit, and 2) they've seen much, much worse.

Duramax80 wrote:If I was arrested for MIP, charged with MIP, and Convicted of MIP, and after completing probation, the charge was expunged, do I have to disclose?

Also, if I was arrested and charged with DUI, but in court, the charge was dropped to reckless driving, do I need to disclose DUI?

I got a criminal background check that said my record was completely clean, so should I disclose what doesnt exist?

Basically, read your app carefully. If it says to only include convictions don't put it. If it says (and many do) to include arrests, do it.