The Florida Board of Bar Examiners Checks Social Media
I’ve known for the last seven years that the Florida Board of Bar Examiners has been checking up on my client’s social media profiles but I never actually had proof. UNTIL NOW! The Florida Board of Bar Examiners Checks Social Media.
While preparing a client for the upcoming Tampa hearings she sent me and email from her linked in account that “Bar Counsel for the Florida Bar” had visited and navigated her linkedin page. Not everyone pays Linkedin for a premium profile where you can see who visited your page but luckily my client does. The Board has never hid the fact that they check social media and I think they are wise to check it but for the most part I always felt as if most of my clients didn’t believe me when I explained just how far they would go to “catch you”. Linkedin is essentially an online resume so if it is inconsistent with the resume or job opportunities you represented to the law school and to the Florida Bar it could create a serious candor issue for the applicant.
It is perfectly acceptable to have a few crazy fun pictures posted but be mindful of what the Board is looking at your profile for. For instance if you have had multiple DUI’s in the past and now you are claiming to be sober and to abstain from alcohol don’t be photographed with a drink in your hand (any drink) it is just common sense. As far as I know they can’t circumnavigate the privacy settings on facebook. They could technically subpoena the information so the best policy is don’t post anything on the internet anywhere that you don’t want the Florida Board of Bar Examiners to see.
The Florida Board of Bar Examiners Checks Social Media
For more information on how to better be prepared for your upcoming hearing before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners call attorney Lars Soreide at (954) 760-6552.
Character and Fitness Hearings Fort Lauderdale
The Florida Board of Bar Examiners announced that they will set special set hearings for applicants with investigative and formal hearings on April 25th and April 26th in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. If approached by the Board of Bar Examiners to take an earlier hearing every Applicant should be asking am I ready. There is a natural inclination to just want to get it over with but if the Board of Bar Examiners files specifications and you now are facing a formal hearing you could be looking at an 8 month to a year extra delay to your file. We are representing Applicants in the upcoming Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach special set hearings before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners character and fitness hearings. Upcoming Florida Bar Character and Fitness Hearings Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach are April 25th and April 26th.
They do allow the 15 day rule to be waived to submit your evidence in advance if they notice you within the 15 day window. In this case you can just bring your exhibits with you to the hearing itself. Make sure you bring with you 5 copies of anything you intend to submit which will be one copy for each Board member, one for the record and one for you. If you are not sure if you are ready for your Florida Board of Bar Examiners Character and Fitness Hearing on a moments notices than you should wait. Only if you are fully prepared and done all the leg work in advance should you jump at the opportunity to rush into an earlier hearing. If you are not sure you should contact an attorney for a consultation. Soreide Law Group has represented hundreds of Applicants before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and can help you navigate the tough decision of am I ready or not? No two hearings are the same and each hearing requires evidence and testimony tailored to your specific fact set. Many of these items can be obtained quickly so it will vary case by case if an earlier hearing before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners is right for you. Our firm travels to every hearing location to represent Applicants but we are located in Pompano Beach Florida which close to the upcoming Fort Lauderale and West Palm Beach hearings.
Character Witnesses in Florida Bar Hearings
Character witnesses are sometimes called to testify at character and fitness hearings before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. At the investigative level it is far less common to call a live witness. More often than not character testimony is offered only in the form of letter support or affidavit at the investigative level. As an attorney that represents Applicants at these hearings I would only recommend calling a live witness if one is needed to refute compelling bad character evidence against an Applicant. At meetings with the Board they have to see multiple Applicants in a day and don’t want to get bogged down with multiple live character witnesses and have the right to refuse their testimony. That is why at the Investigative hearing level it is best to just offer the letter support instead of the live person.
At Formal Hearings, assuming the Board advanced you to the next level and didn’t clear you at the investigative hearing, I feel it is imperative to call live character witnesses. At the formal hearing it is almost expected that you will be able to offer some compelling character testimony from someone that may influence the Board. A friend or family member is not compelling to the Board since they would recommend you no matter what your past looks like. Try to focus on past employers or former co-workers that are Florida Bar members when deciding who to offer to the Board as your witness. Also think quality over quantity. One compelling authority the Board would listen too is better than three of your buddies you graduated law school from.
If you have an investigative character and fitness hearing or a formal character and fitness hearing before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners call an attorney at (888) 760-6552 for a free consultation.
How a Florida Bar Applicant can conduct a Proper Background Check
When applying to the Florida Bar the number one reason that Applicants find themselves the subject of an investigative or formal hearing is due to “lack of candor”. In most instances this can be totally avoided by conducting a thorough background check on yourself. If something is left off your Florida Bar Applicantion the examiners may suspect that it was an intentional act of deceit and you were concealing bad facts that you didn’t want them to learn. Sometime it is an innocent mistake such as leaving off a summer job that you may have forgotten about from 6 years ago but after being contacted by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners your former employer may not have had very nice things to say about you which would lead the Board to think it was a deliberate act. Here are three things every Florida Bar Applicant must do before applying.
- Pull your credit from at least three different credit reporting agencies. You will see what you had that fell into collections and you may not even know it. Better you explain the error to the Board of Bar Examiners than have them find out and contact you about it. Also someone could have stolen your credit and destroyed it so it’s best to find this out on your own to do damage control.
- Get your employment history through the social security administration’s website. If there was ever a withholding they are aware of the job. They won’t have any info on unpaid internships but this is a good starting point to help you piece together your work timeline.
- Pay for a background check. Background checks are not even expensive and are done through services such as lexis-nexis accurint. This data base searches history for criminal, civil, foreclosure, bankruptcies, prior address history, corporate affiliations, among other areas the bar is concerned with. Our firm offers this at only $99 and will even credit the money back to you should you retain Soreide Law Group to represent you at any investigative or formal hearing. It is a must with any background check. It doesn’t negate items 1 & 2 because you have to be a debt collection firm to be able to pull bar applicants credit, those are free items anyone can do now.
When applying to the Florida Bar treat this like your first case. Character and Fitness is a critical decision making factor on if you will be admitted to the Florida Bar and some would say even more difficult than passing the Florida Bar Exam. If you have any questions on the above feel free to contact Lars Soreide, Esq., at (954) 760-6552. We offer a free consultation and travel to each hearing location of the Board of Bar Examiners.
Vacancies Announced on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners
Licensed Florida Lawyer applicants are being sought to fill the two vacancies on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.
There will be a joint screening committee of Florida Board of Governors members and Florida Board of Bar Examiners members. They will recommend six nominees for two lawyer vacancies at the May 20, 2016 meeting. Their nominations will then be forwarded to the Florida Supreme Court to fill two five-year terms beginning Nov. 1, 2016 and ending on Oct. 31, 2021.
Florida attorneys applying must have been members of The Florida Bar for at least five years and they must be a practicing Florida lawyer with “scholarly attainments” and have a positive interest in legal education and the requirements for admission to the Bar. Appointment or election to the bench at any level of the court system will disqualify any applicant. All law professors or trustees are ineligible.
The board members of the Bar Examiners must be able to attend approximately ten meetings a year in various Florida locations. Members should be willing to devote 3-4 days’ a month, or up to 350 or more hours per year on Board business, depending on committee assignments. Travel expenses connected with the meetings and examinations are reimbursed.
Persons interested in applying for these vacancies should contact Tara Newman, Director of Administration, Florida Board of Bar Examiners, at 850-681-5707 to obtain the application form. Completed applications must be received by the Executive Director, 1891 Eider Court, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1750 by the close of business on Friday, March 25, 2016.
The Soreide Law Group represents those seeking admittance to the Florida Bar and existing attorneys, for both Formal and Investigative Hearings in front of The Florida Bar. For more information regarding our services, call and speak to an attorney at no-cost: 1-888-760-6552.
Upcoming Dates and Locations of Florida Bar Hearings
The following dates and locations are for upcoming Formal and Investigative Hearings before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.
Soreide Law Group travels to each of the hearing locating for our clients. We represent those seeking admittance to the Florida Bar, and existing attorneys, for both Investigative Hearings and Formal Hearings before The Florida Bar.For more information about our services at no cost call: (888) 760-6552.
July 10 -11, 2015 Orlando, Florida
July 27, 2015 Tampa, Florida
September 18 – 19, 2015 Jacksonville, Florida
October 23 – 24, 2015 Coral Gables, Florida
June 2015 Florida Bar Hearing Defense Attorney Tip
Don’t be afraid to engage in a battle of the experts before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. As a result of past conduct, you may have been forced to meet with a Florida Lawyers Assistance approved physician for a chemical dependency or psychological evaluation.
In many instances you may find yourself shocked with the findings and having to defend yourself to the Board. There are several ways to respond to an unfavorable chemical dependency or psychological evaluation.
You can depose the expert and pick apart his methodology and attempt to discredit him. However, since he or she has already been approved as an expert by the Board this is a dubious task.
The more meaningful way to attack the report would be to seek independent clinicians to conduct their own independent report. If your clinicians are willing to come in and testify to explain and validate their findings, then I feel that anyone applying to the Florida Bar has a fighting chance to not get unfairly labeled as a drug addict or unstable.
For more information call 954-760-6552 to speak to a Florida Board of Bar Examiners character and fitness defense attorney.
January 2015 Florida Bar Hearing Defense Attorney Tip
Recently I returned from representing my clients in Investigative Hearings before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners in Tallahassee, Florida. In many of the Investigative Hearings before the Board I noticed that many applicants to The Florida Bar had past due or delinquent financial obligations. When my clients make me aware of delinquent financial obligations, I immediately begin to work with each applicant to make sure they become extraordinarily pro active with their creditors. We focus on eliminating or substantially reducing financial obligations and making all accounts current.
The Florida Bar is not a debt collection agency. However, they do not want to see applicants “turning their back” on their creditors. All of this relates back to law firm trust accounting and the notion that if you can’t manage your own financial situations, you should not be allowed to manage a law firm’s escrow account.
For more ways to evidence financial rehabilitation and tips on how to prepare for Investigative and Formal Hearings before the Board of Bar Examiners visit our website or call Florida Bar Hearing Defense Attorney Lars Soreide at (888) 760-6552 for a consultation at no cost. We travel to all locations throughout Florida to appear before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.