Florida Board of Bar Examiners Investigative Hearing Defense Attorney Tip for the Month of July
Recently I returned from successfully representing three applicants before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners in Jacksonville, Florida. All three were admitted, but what stood out in my mind from the trip, was a question one of the Panel members asked one of my clients. The applicant (happily now a Florida attorney), was asked by a Panel member to, “rank in order of importance the reasons why you think we called you here.” I thought that was a great question, and had my client not been adequately prepared and ready to go, might have blown it.
The notice of Investigative Hearing listed items dating back to the teenage years of the Applicant, ranging from a number of offenses. The one thing that the Applicant was correct in pointing out was that the Board cared the most about the non-disclosure of one of those events on the Florida Bar Application. The Board knows that all Applicants have at some point in their lives had some trouble whether criminal, financial, academic, with an employer, or otherwise. They care more about that as a law student, or lawyer applicant from another jurisdiction, that you would potentially hide one of those infractions from them which is clear evidence of a lack of candor. It is important to consult an experience attorney before attending a hearing before the Board so you are not caught off guard with a question like this.
If you have an upcoming Investigative or Formal hearing with the Florida Bar, call Soreide Law Group at (888) 760-6552 for a consultation with an attorney at no cost. We travel to all locations throughout Florida to appear before the Board of Bar Examiners.