Top Law Schools

Has anyone ever done this? I've gotten maybe 7 tickets my whole life from parking, no proof of insurance to speeding infractions. Someone I spoke to on the phone at one school I'm considering suggested I write one. I think it's a bit unnecessary because it's not like I really did anything immoral... Thoughts?

Ive gotten tons of parking tickets (lost count) and didnt submit anything with my apps. Dont sweat it

Just disclose the tickets, if any, that fall within the questions of the C&F sections of your apps. There's definitely no need to do anything beyond that if you've never been cited for a serious violation.

ALeal90 wrote:I think it's a bit unnecessary because it's not like I really did anything immoral... Thoughts?

A lot of the stuff you'll do for purposes of C&F will seem unnecessary, but they've been made necessary by the process. Read the applications, and if there's anything in there even hinting that you should disclose those tickets, just do it. It's a headache now to track down that info; it's a much bigger headache later to explain why you didn't disclose something you should have. The infractions themselves will have 0 effect on admissions.

Some schools included speeding tickets in their C&F section. I disclosed the speeding tickets in those instances. When a school didn't ask I didn't disclose.

Don't disclose parking tickets, that seems silly to me.

ALeal90 wrote:Has anyone ever done this? I've gotten maybe 7 tickets my whole life from parking, no proof of insurance to speeding infractions. Someone I spoke to on the phone at one school I'm considering suggested I write one. I think it's a bit unnecessary because it's not like I really did anything immoral... Thoughts?

Many people do this but I think it just draws more attention to it. I would advise against it, as no school (that I know of) is going to ding you or deelevate you for traffic tickets.

bp shinners wrote:

ALeal90 wrote:I think it's a bit unnecessary because it's not like I really did anything immoral... Thoughts?

A lot of the stuff you'll do for purposes of C&F will seem unnecessary, but they've been made necessary by the process. Read the applications, and if there's anything in there even hinting that you should disclose those tickets, just do it. It's a headache now to track down that info; it's a much bigger headache later to explain why you didn't disclose something you should have. The infractions themselves will have 0 effect on admissions.

Is it okay if you're almost empty on the details, as long as you mention the ticket? I had a speeding ticket shortly after I started driving in 1986. I *think* it was in July, and I'm pretty sure the ticket was from a state trooper, rather than city police. But I can't remember how much the fine was or even exactly how fast I was going. It also doesn't come up when I pull my online DPS records from the state. So at this point, I'd have to go halfway across the country and dig through paper records, if they'd even let me.

Along the same lines, I received a ticket for "entering or remaining in a city park after hours" sometime around 1991. It was a violation of a city ordinance, and I have no idea if it even rose to the level of a misdemeanor. I just dropped a check in the mail with the ticket and it was done. I've tried to look up the statute now, but at some time after the ticket was issued, the entire Code was re-written, and a completely different arm of city government manages laws involving parks now.

In short, as long as I mention the infraction and fill in the details as best I can remember, is there a "you've got to be kidding me" defense to not having all of the exact details?

In short, as long as I mention the infraction and fill in the details as best I can remember, is there a "you've got to be kidding me" defense to not having all of the exact details?

Did you end up finding out the answer to this? I would guess, by now, you have.

NKreLaw wrote:

In short, as long as I mention the infraction and fill in the details as best I can remember, is there a "you've got to be kidding me" defense to not having all of the exact details?

Did you end up finding out the answer to this? I would guess, by now, you have.

If it isn't a misdemeanor, there is unlikely to be any written record of it after such a long time particularly before the electronic file age. If there is, you can request it by visiting the court where the ticket is issued. This kind of thing won't really affect your application to law school, but as part of its due diligence, the bar will generally want you to furnish a copy of the ticket. If there is not, you will generally need to demonstrate that you made reasonable attempts to find the ticket, but the standard for reasonable attempt can be pretty high. In short, you're probably better off if this was a misdemeanor because it is unlikely to have a material impact and because records of tickets from the early 90's probably aren't retained, it can be really inconvenient.