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During one year of school, I stupidly let a student see a copy of my work and he turned it in as his own. The professor found out and wrote a letter which was placed in my file in my college's files. Upon graduation, I talked to the professor, and they told me the letter was never logged with the university and they tore it up since nothing else took place while I was at the school.

I made the grievous error of not mentioning this on my law school applications before. I considered that there truly wasn't any "discipline" since the university wasn't notified, I didn't even get a 0 on the assignment or in the class and there were no repercussions. I know I should have at the time just put it on the C&F section anyway. As of now, I've already gotten into several schools and am waiting on others.

What should I do?? Should I send adjustments to my application to all of the schools to protect my chances of getting into the bar?

I can't think of one reason as to why you should do anything about this.

From what I've read, leaving out something that has to do with candor on your applications for the bar is basically the ONE reason your application can be denied. If there's any remnants of this at my undergraduate school, it could disqualify me from the bar, couldn't it? I just don't want to take that chance.

You need to amend your application. It shouldn't be a big deal now. It will be a big deal if caught during it after the bar c&f.

Are you positive it was never logged? If so then it would be impossible to find.

usernotfound wrote:Are you positive it was never logged? If so then it would be impossible to find.

While I think it wasn't...I can't really be sure.

swedish444 wrote:From what I've read, leaving out something that has to do with candor on your applications for the bar is basically the ONE reason your application can be denied. If there's any remnants of this at my undergraduate school, it could disqualify me from the bar, couldn't it? I just don't want to take that chance.

You're not going to get denied from the bar for not mentioning some nonexistent disciplinary record that had no repercussions on your law school application. But if you are so worried about it go ahead and amend the application. You don't want to go through three years of law school and rack up triple digit debt with the thought that this may all be a waste. So if it makes you feel better, please.

Desert Fox wrote:You need to amend your application. It shouldn't be a big deal now. It will be a big deal if caught during it after the bar c&f.

This is TCR

Everyone who is sayin "do nothing" is wrong

And they should can it

The repercussions to disclosure are low and the potential consequences to nondisclosure = you don't get to take the bar

rad lulz wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:You need to amend your application. It shouldn't be a big deal now. It will be a big deal if caught during it after the bar c&f.

This is TCR

Everyone who is sayin "do nothing" is wrong

And they should can it

The repercussions to disclosure are low and the potential consequences to nondisclosure = you don't get to take the bar

That's a good general rule, but I try to be practical and situational with my decision making when I can.

HLS2018 wrote:

rad lulz wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:You need to amend your application. It shouldn't be a big deal now. It will be a big deal if caught during it after the bar c&f.

This is TCR

Everyone who is sayin "do nothing" is wrong

And they should can it

The repercussions to disclosure are low and the potential consequences to nondisclosure = you don't get to take the bar

That's a good general rule, but I try to be practical and situational with my decision making when I can.

Practical thinking has no place when dealing with CF disclosures

Wish I were joking

You should verify that there is no record of it first.

If there is something, amend.
If there is nothing, strongly consider amending.

It depends on the wording of the question. Most ask if there was any disciplinary action taken and it sounds like there was no action taken here. Thus, you do not have to disclose. Ask the college the question on your application and weather they would consider this instance to trigger a yes response. They will have the ultimate say in the matter

john1990 wrote:It depends on the wording of the question. Most ask if there was any disciplinary action taken and it sounds like there was no action taken here. Thus, you do not have to disclose. Ask the college the question on your application and weather they would consider this instance to trigger a yes response. They will have the ultimate say in the matter

False. Your law school has the ultimate say in the matter.

midwest17 wrote:

john1990 wrote:It depends on the wording of the question. Most ask if there was any disciplinary action taken and it sounds like there was no action taken here. Thus, you do not have to disclose. Ask the college the question on your application and weather they would consider this instance to trigger a yes response. They will have the ultimate say in the matter

False. Your law school has the ultimate say in the matter.

If your undergraduate institution states that they do not consider you to have been the subject of a disciplinary action then that should be upheld. Why would the law school determine this

ArtistOfManliness wrote:

+1

rad lulz wrote:Practical thinking has no place when dealing with CF disclosures

Wish I were joking

TCR. The answer is always "disclose it" when it comes to the bar C&F. Disclosing something that your undergrad didn't even see fit to maintain a record of is not going to torpedo your admission. Getting caught lying (by omission...that's how the bar C&F works) will.

john1990 wrote:

midwest17 wrote:

john1990 wrote:It depends on the wording of the question. Most ask if there was any disciplinary action taken and it sounds like there was no action taken here. Thus, you do not have to disclose. Ask the college the question on your application and weather they would consider this instance to trigger a yes response. They will have the ultimate say in the matter

False. Your law school has the ultimate say in the matter.

If your undergraduate institution states that they do not consider you to have been the subject of a disciplinary action then that should be upheld. Why would the law school determine this

Because the bar asks the law school if they would have counted it. The law school gets to decide if it should have been disclosed under their disclosure question. The bar could find out about it in a variety of ways, and the UGs opinion, while perhaps relevant, is not final.

Don't give potentially career-ruining advice that you don't really know the answer to.

Thank you all for the advice. I ended up disclosing it to every school I applied to including those I already got into via e-mail. Nearly every school responded "Thank you for your interest in XXX law school. We have added this e-mail to your application."

Should I assume that this is all that's going to come of this? One school did reference that they would let the adcom know and that they did not think it would be a problem (this was a school I was already in at). Or is it possible a school will come back down the line and withdraw an acceptance?

swedish444 wrote:Thank you all for the advice. I ended up disclosing it to every school I applied to including those I already got into via e-mail. Nearly every school responded "Thank you for your interest in XXX law school. We have added this e-mail to your application."

Should I assume that this is all that's going to come of this? One school did reference that they would let the adcom know and that they did not think it would be a problem (this was a school I was already in at). Or is it possible a school will come back down the line and withdraw an acceptance?

Don't fret too much about it. You made the right call telling the schools. I had to make an amended disclosure during orientation - our dean basically told us to tell her about anything that could raise any C&F issues down the line, even if it wasn't technically required by the applications. Her sentiment when I sent the amendment was basically, "we don't really care, but the bar will ask us if we knew and we need to be able to say yes". They're trying to cover your ass later more than they're really worried about it - unless it's something serious like domestic abuse or a sexual assault, they generally understand that young people are stupid - and it's much more important that you get this stuff out early than have to explain it later.