Criminal History Effect on Biglaw Employment Forum

[Anonymous User]

I have three misdemeanors on my record. Two are fairly serious, and one is minor. Both occurred before I was a 1L during undergrad. Do biglaw firms care about misdemeanors, ask about misdemeanors, or rescind offers because of misdemeanor convictions?

[Blessedassurance]

Are you going to pass c&f?

[Anonymous User]

Yeah. C&F isn't going to bar me based on these three misdemeanors. I know individuals who have had felonies pass C&F.

My primary concern is that I'm not sure if a reputable firm will not want to hire me, especially when they have their pick of anyone they want in such a contracted economy.

[Anonymous User]

probably depends on what your misdemeanors are. shoplifting or other offenses that call your honesty into question are probably more likely to hurt you both with c&f and firms than something like misdemeanor reckless driving, for example.

[seatown12]

you are posting anonymously, tell us what happened

[NotMyRealName09]

As was said, if the crimes involve dishonesty, you will have some explaining to do. I'm willing to forgive an Minor in Possession or the stray DUI, or maybe even an assualt during a bar fight - but three convictions? That speaks to some serious lack of judgment.

Give details, its too late to go back now, you want us to advise you, you have to tell us more.

[Anonymous User]

They do not involve dishonesty, theft, financial crimes, or academic dishonesty and I made a huge deal about disclosing what happened by including a ton of detail in my application post-admission.

The charges were alcohol (1) and drug (2) related, and confrontational behavior (I never actually hurt anyone) (3).


The convictions do not weigh on moral turpitude, do not indicate I will hurt clients, and do not involve dishonesty, cover-up, cheating, lying, or financial scamming. Hence why I say C&F will be fine.

[Anonymous User]

The incident occurred post-admission, btw.

[Jack Smirks]

They do not involve dishonesty, theft, financial crimes, or academic dishonesty and I made a huge deal about disclosing what happened by including a ton of detail in my application post-admission.
.

What do you mean by this?

[Anonymous User]

I wasn't very clear. The incidents in question occurred after I was admitted. Thus, I had to amend my application with an addendum explaining new events had occurred since admission. I made sure to disclose as much detail as possible so that C&F could not accuse me of misrepresentation, omission, or dishonesty/lack of disclosure.