Character & Fitness... Forum

[dreman510]

Will one screwed up tax return from 4 years ago affect your C&F?

[LawandOrder]

--ImageRemoved--

"Well I uh.. you see... my accountant..."

[dreman510]

If youre 20 years old and making a few thousand...you cant exactly afford an accountant.

[LawandOrder]

As long as you didn't intentionally try to defraud the IRS you are most likely okay.*






*Wild speculation, no source

[Splitt3r]

Dude you're fucked. Job out of law school now and get to working at McDonald's, if they'll even hire you.

[dreman510]

As long as you didn't intentionally try to defraud the IRS you are most likely okay.*






*Wild speculation, no source

that is the tiniest writing ever. Obviously, the 4 years after that were ok...I dont even have the tax documents anymore!

[dreman510]

Dude you're fucked. Job out of law school now and get to working at McDonald's, if they'll even hire you.

love the honesty...

[dreman510]

I will re-bump my old thread as I file again. Are tax returns checked for C&F?

[270910]

Almost nobody fails C&F. It's designed to 1) weed out liars (i.e. if any question implicates your tax issue, disclose disclose disclose) and MAJOR risks (think: psychotics, extensive criminal background, drowning in debt from hookers & blow in vegas during law school, etc).

[ConMan345]

Almost nobody fails C&F. It's designed to 1) weed out liars (i.e. if any question implicates your tax issue, disclose disclose disclose) and MAJOR risks (think: psychotics, extensive criminal background, drowning in debt from hookers & blow in vegas during law school, etc).

From what I've heard, this is right. It's actually a bit of a ruse, freaking people out about lots of stuff that they don't want other people to know about really just to see if they'll be able to prove you lied. (in any case, no C+F app I've looked at (NY, CA, WA, Michigan) has it asked for tax forms)

[dreman510]

Almost nobody fails C&F. It's designed to 1) weed out liars (i.e. if any question implicates your tax issue, disclose disclose disclose) and MAJOR risks (think: psychotics, extensive criminal background, drowning in debt from hookers & blow in vegas during law school, etc).

From what I've heard, this is right. It's actually a bit of a ruse, freaking people out about lots of stuff that they don't want other people to know about really just to see if they'll be able to prove you lied. (in any case, no C+F app I've looked at (NY, CA, WA, Michigan) has it asked for tax forms)

Got it...so general consensus with C&F is that usually as long as you can explain it, there will be no problems?

[ConMan345]

Almost nobody fails C&F. It's designed to 1) weed out liars (i.e. if any question implicates your tax issue, disclose disclose disclose) and MAJOR risks (think: psychotics, extensive criminal background, drowning in debt from hookers & blow in vegas during law school, etc).

From what I've heard, this is right. It's actually a bit of a ruse, freaking people out about lots of stuff that they don't want other people to know about really just to see if they'll be able to prove you lied. (in any case, no C+F app I've looked at (NY, CA, WA, Michigan) has it asked for tax forms)

Got it...so general consensus with C&F is that usually as long as you can explain it, there will be no problems?

I've heard that no one really fails if you're truthful and upfront about some indiscretion that happened in the past. Think about it like this: who gets disbarred? People who did really bad things involving lying, cheating, and worse. The standards aren't different for new bar admissions. When in doubt, disclose.

[dreman510]

Almost nobody fails C&F. It's designed to 1) weed out liars (i.e. if any question implicates your tax issue, disclose disclose disclose) and MAJOR risks (think: psychotics, extensive criminal background, drowning in debt from hookers & blow in vegas during law school, etc).

From what I've heard, this is right. It's actually a bit of a ruse, freaking people out about lots of stuff that they don't want other people to know about really just to see if they'll be able to prove you lied. (in any case, no C+F app I've looked at (NY, CA, WA, Michigan) has it asked for tax forms)

Got it...so general consensus with C&F is that usually as long as you can explain it, there will be no problems?

I've heard that no one really fails if you're truthful and upfront about some indiscretion that happened in the past. Think about it like this: who gets disbarred? People who did really bad things involving lying, cheating, and worse. The standards aren't different for new bar admissions. When in doubt, disclose.

Right. I just never know if I fill out my tax returns correctly each year, so thats my worry, and I dont make enough to make it worth an accountant . I know im just paranoid, since they dont care about tax returns anyway

[chicagolaw2013]

Almost nobody fails C&F. It's designed to 1) weed out liars (i.e. if any question implicates your tax issue, disclose disclose disclose) and MAJOR risks (think: psychotics, extensive criminal background, drowning in debt from hookers & blow in vegas during law school, etc).

I love that hookers and blow as a package deal are brought up at least once in every thread hahahaha. It makes my day every time.

[mikeytwoshoes]

Almost nobody fails C&F. It's designed to 1) weed out liars (i.e. if any question implicates your tax issue, disclose disclose disclose) and MAJOR risks (think: psychotics, extensive criminal background, drowning in debt from hookers & blow in vegas during law school, etc).

Fuck!

Etit: VEGAS BABY

[ScaredWorkedBored]

Got it...so general consensus with C&F is that usually as long as you can explain it, there will be no problems?

Severe, and I mean murder, crimes against people are not automatically disqualifying.

Other than uncontrolled major mental health issues, about the only thing that's going to put you in serious trouble is a pattern of dishonesty that continues through your dealings with the law school and the bar examiners.

[BigA]

What about a lie on your law school app???

[CyLaw]

What about a lie on your law school app???

Yes. That will most likely fail your C&F.

Almost nobody fails C&F. It's designed to 1) weed out liars (i.e. if any question implicates your tax issue, disclose disclose disclose) and MAJOR risks (think: psychotics, extensive criminal background, drowning in debt from hookers & blow in vegas during law school, etc).

Whew. thank god I wasn't in vegas. It doesn't count if it is not in vegas, right?
To future C&F examiners: I am joking. This is humor.

[HBK]

Almost nobody fails C&F. It's designed to 1) weed out liars (i.e. if any question implicates your tax issue, disclose disclose disclose) and MAJOR risks (think: psychotics, extensive criminal background, drowning in debt from hookers & blow in vegas during law school, etc).

I knew a girl who failed C&F. She downplayed or lied about her drug use, despite documentation of continued use. Last I heard, she was going to have to jump through some hoops and try again.

[dreman510]

Almost nobody fails C&F. It's designed to 1) weed out liars (i.e. if any question implicates your tax issue, disclose disclose disclose) and MAJOR risks (think: psychotics, extensive criminal background, drowning in debt from hookers & blow in vegas during law school, etc).

I knew a girl who failed C&F. She downplayed or lied about her drug use, despite documentation of continued use. Last I heard, she was going to have to jump through some hoops and try again.

all bout the blow...

[Oban]

What about a lie on your law school app???

Yeah if you lie on one of the C&F questions = auto fail C&F part of Bar. The rest of it isn't checked so they aren't going to like make you prove you one that one random scholarship or something or were actually in the glee club.

C&F is mainly to check to see if you are lying about criminal/mental health/ethical backgrounds.

[Knock]

Interesting. What do people usually lie about on their app? I imagine it would be pretty hard to prove that someone lied unless it was something pretty blatant. Would stretching the truth fail you? It all seems so subjective. What if you lied about something, but you had paper work to back up your lie? Like, for example, you were President of some club in official documents of that club, but only on paper and actually held a lesser position in that club. That would be lying, but you would have the paperwork to defend yourself.

[CyLaw]

Interesting. What do people usually lie about on their app? I imagine it would be pretty hard to prove that someone lied unless it was something pretty blatant. Would stretching the truth fail you? It all seems so subjective. What if you lied about something, but you had paper work to back up your lie? Like, for example, you were President of some club in official documents of that club, but only on paper and actually held a lesser position in that club. That would be lying, but you would have the paperwork to defend yourself.

The two that are often asked about here are

Have you ever been charged with any kind of offense, violation, or had disclipary action taken against you by a school?

List all schools you have attended, yes even that one where you got a bad grade and you think we will never find out about

[BigA]

Interesting. What do people usually lie about on their app?

Same things you can lie about on any application I would imagine... resume, certain qualifications, covering up gaps in employment...

[straxen]

Nobody will care if it's an honest oversight.

I pretty much do amended returns for a living...once you start seeing dozens of people with many millions in back taxes for overseas income they've miraculously just remembered getting a bill from the IRS with no further questions asked, seeing people freak out with something like:

OMG OMG OMG I took $3 more in deductions than I really should have, I can't go to jail, I don't wanna get raped.

just seems pretty hilarious.

(Previous discussion does not apply if you have plans to be nominated for HHS secretary someday...in which case, yes, crucifixion will apply)