poor work history, arrest record, poor gpa, and 157 Forum

[Zeta]

i do have a diagnosis of ADHD going for me and a gpa of 3.5 for my last 21 credit hrs. after beginning treatment.
it's been four years since i graduated and in that time i've had 2 jobs, both of which lasted about eight months.
the good news is that the last arrest (of six, no felonies, only two convictions and no jail time served) happened just as I was beginning the drug therapy for the ADHD (yes i'm being ironic).
to top it all off i'm 37 years old.
is there anywhere that will accept me?

[calidancer2]

why do you want to go to law school?

[Zeta]

to be a lawyer.

[DildaMan]

i do have a diagnosis of ADHD going for me and a gpa of 3.5 for my last 21 credit hrs. after beginning treatment.

What is your aggregate GPA?

[Zeta]

2.6

[nygrrrl]

to be a lawyer.

Why do you want to be a lawyer?

[Zeta]

why do my motives matter?

[nygrrrl]

why do my motives matter?

Because if everything you've posted is true, you may have a heck of a time getting into law school and if you're not really passionate about it, you might want to think about other careers.

[paratactical]

why do my motives matter?

Because if everything you've posted is true, you may have a heck of a time getting into law school and if you're not really passionate about it, you might want to think about other careers.

Furthermore, it might demonstrate that you either have or do not have a clear understanding of what lawyers actually do and what their work is like. It's very difficult for me to believe that someone who cannot hold a job for more than 8 months is ready to enter a demanding career.

[nygrrrl]

why do my motives matter?

Because if everything you've posted is true, you may have a heck of a time getting into law school and if you're not really passionate about it, you might want to think about other careers.

Furthermore, it might demonstrate that you either have or do not have a clear understanding of what lawyers actually do and what their work is like. It's very difficult for me to believe that someone who cannot hold a job for more than 8 months is ready to enter a demanding career.

You put that so well.

[Zeta]

thanks for the advice.

[CanadianWolf]

How recent was your last arrest ? When was the first of your 6 arrests ?

[cynthiad]

i do have a diagnosis of ADHD going for me and a gpa of 3.5 for my last 21 credit hrs. after beginning treatment.
it's been four years since i graduated and in that time i've had 2 jobs, both of which lasted about eight months.
the good news is that the last arrest (of six, no felonies, only two convictions and no jail time served) happened just as I was beginning the drug therapy for the ADHD (yes i'm being ironic).
to top it all off i'm 37 years old.
is there anywhere that will accept me?

The only way you can get into a decent school with this background is if you do something amazing to turn your life around. I'm talking start a charity that builds schools for girls in a developing country, join (and excel in) a program that involves counseling people in prison and rise to the top leadership position within the program, write your memoir and become a NY Times bestselling author, win the Nobel prize, you get the picture. Basically show them that you've turned your not-so-good background into something amazing. If you don't think you can do this, rethink becoming a lawyer. If you don't think you can work hard enough to do this, definitely don't become a lawyer.

[CanadianWolf]

There are likely to be plenty of law schools that will take your money, but the real issue is whether any state bar will take you.

[Zeta]

this is a main concern as well. how much will my pat affect my admission into a state bar? if i'm up front and honest about everything, is there still a possibility i can be denied entry into a state bar?
as far as the arrests go, one was for pot paraphernalia before i was twenty, one was for shoplifting when i was 25, one was for a warrant that was issued for not having paid a ticket, two (felonies which were both dismissed) were for (on separate occasions) forgery of a license plate, and the last one (which was four years ago) was for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.

[Zeta]

scratch that, it's been 8 years since the last arrest.

[paratactical]

this is a main concern as well. how much will my pat affect my admission into a state bar? if i'm up front and honest about everything, is there still a possibility i can be denied entry into a state bar?
as far as the arrests go, one was for pot paraphernalia before i was twenty, one was for shoplifting when i was 25, one was for a warrant that was issued for not having paid a ticket, two (felonies which were both dismissed) were for (on separate occasions) forgery of a license plate, and the last one (which was four years ago) was for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.

Yes, there is still a possibility that you could be denied entry. In fact, the charge they will most likely be most worried about is the forgery charge. Any crime that displays a willingness to lie or falsify documents is a huge deal to bar associations and you will have to really prove that you have changed. You should probably contact the bar associations in the states where you are considering practicing and ask them to refer you to an attorney you can talk about these issues with before you plunk down all that money on law school.

[Zeta]

one of the forgery arrests happened because some guy had stolen a car and replaced the stolen cars licence plate w/ my girlfriend's. i had the good fortune of driving the car the next day and for whatever reason a cop ran the plate and i got arrested. just plain bs luck.
the other one i got because a car i had purchased had had the plates tampered with by the previous owner. i had absolutely no way of knowing. in fact, i had no way of benefiting from the alteration as the forgery expired before i purchased the vehicle. not that this really matters but it is what it is.
so, even though the charges were dismissed, i can still be denied entry because of them?
btw, all of the charges have been expunged. there is only the arrest record.

[Zeta]

also, how does my having been charged w/ a crime make me liable for it if i was never even tried? rejecting my application on the grounds that someone mistakenly assumed i committed a crime is punishing me as severely as if i'd been convicted. how is that fair? how can i prove that i've changed from something i've never been?

[dingbat]

also, how does my having been charged w/ a crime make me liable for it if i was never even tried? rejecting my application on the grounds that someone mistakenly assumed i committed a crime is punishing me as severely as if i'd been convicted. how is that fair? how can i prove that i've changed from something i've never been?

It's a matter of character and fitness. If you've only been charged once for something minor, it's probably not a big deal, but if there's a pattern of run-ins with the law, then at the very least it indicates a deficiency of judgment, where you're repeatedly putting yourself in position of suspicion.

[justonemoregame]

You graduated college at 33 and have worked for a little over a year out of the past four? You'd be lucky to be debt-free at age 50 after attending law school. Just go get a fucking job, regardless of how bad you want to be an attorney.

[Zeta]

.

[JCFindley]

If this isn't a troll thread, there has never been one on TLS, ever...

[Zeta]

i wish it was, believe me.
look, i'm confident (if i can get in somewhere w/ this ridiculous record) i'll excel in law school. but let's say you're right. let's say i'm just some delusional idiot with more money than brains. i'm asking that you suspend your disbelief for a moment and imagine i might actually succeed. will i be rejected by the bar because of my record?

[CanadianWolf]

The answer is it depends upon how your application is presented to & viewed by the state bar. The overwhelming negative is that your trouble with the law covers a significant time period primarily during your adult life. Mitigating factors include your undiagnosed condition & subsequent treatment.