Can I get into law school with 2 DUI’s??? Is it worth it?
I was young and dumb. I was convicted for 2 DUI’s; 1 when I was 19, and the other was when I was 20. I am now 27 and have not gotten into ANY trouble with the law since my last DUI.
I really want to go to Law School and become an attorney, but I don’t want to waste my time, (and $$$) going to Law School only to get my Bar Exam. application denied. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Yes, you can get into law school. And, believe it or not, you can be admitted to the state bar.
Here’s what you do: when you apply to law school, there’ll be a question on the application about your criminal record. You will want to submit an addendum to your application in essay form explaining your criminal background, INCLUDING traffic tickets, unless the law school specifically asks you not to discuss tickets. (Usually, the wording will be “all felonies and misdemeanors,” and technically a traffic ticket is a misdemeanor.) In your addendum, you should identify when and where these offenses happened, as well as the outcome (prison? lose license? pay fine?). In addition, you need to sound contrite without excusing your behavior. The real purpose of the addendum is to assure the law school that you’ve changed, that you’re no longer irresponsible. The fact that you haven’t slipped up in seven years is good evidence of that.
When you apply to the bar in your state, you will again disclose all of this information for the character and fitness check. The bar will check with your law school to make sure you disclosed to them, as well, and if you didn’t – well, let’s just say there will be hell to pay. Contrary to popular belief, the C&F is not about denying anyone who’s ever messed up, but rather forcing people to come clean and denying admittance to people who lie to cover up their past misdeeds. I seriously doubt that you’ll be rejected if you disclose, disclose, disclose.
For the most part, law schools will not care about your DUIs because they were so long ago. Applicants with more recent DUIs are going to have a bit of an uphill battle because they’ll have a harder time convincing the law school that they’ve changed. As long as your addendum reassures the admissions committee that you’re no longer irresponsible, then I don’t anticipate a problem. Good luck to you.
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