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.

Why Did So Many Do So Poorly on July’s Bar Exam?

In a recent article from Bloomberg Business, they reported that the people who took the most recent bar exam in July were more likely to fail than those who took it last year.  They also claimed that on one portion of the test, the scores dropped to their lowest point in 10 years.

Bloomberg’s report wondered if America’s law graduates are “getting dumber?”

The National Conference of Bar Examiners,  the people who put the bar exam together, seem to think so. The report states that this year’s grads’ pre-law-school test scores declined from the year before, and did so every year from 2010 to 2013. However, this does not explain the poor performance on this year’s bar exam.  They didn’t do slightly worse, they did much worse.

Several law professors felt the reason may have been do to a software glitch causing the test company problems in uploading the answers the first day. No answers were lost but there was much time and anxiety spent with this issue which some feel may have contributed to the poor performance on the remainder of the test.

Many observers feel this should not deflect the issue.  The scores are getting worse on a yearly basis.  Some people feel that as law schools get fewer applications, they may be accepting less than qualified applicants in order to meet their bottom line.

We also caution perspective law students that it could be possible, in order to fill the classrooms, some law schools may be more lax in the applicant’s background. Even though the school accepts the applicant, the Florida Bar may not.

The Soreide Law Group represents 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.

Florida Bar Defense Lawyer Formal Hearing Tip of the Month for October

After an investigative hearing before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, if they determine that that you may have engaged in conduct that is potentially disqualifying, the Board will then file specifications against you. These specifications require an answer within 20 days. In the answer you are allowed to plead your affirmative defenses to the accusations. If the affirmative defense of rehabilitation is not correctly plead then it is waived.
It is the Applicants burden at the formal hearing to prove rehabilitation by the clear and convincing evidence standard.  This standard is not defined anywhere and is up for interpretation as to how much rehabilitation needs to be documented for each offense. Community service is one way to document rehabilitation, but the more narrowly tailored the rehabilitation efforts are to the offense, the better it will be received by the board.
Also, at the formal hearing you are allowed to offer live character witnesses to appear before the Board to testify on your behalf. A formal hearing is a full blown trial where the Board is making arguments through their counsel to keep you out of the Bar. This can be a scary and daunting process for any applicant.  If you have a formal hearing before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners it is highly recommended your consult with an attorney.
Call the Soreide Law Group at (888) 760-6552 for a no cost consultation with an experienced Florida Bar Defense Attorney if you have an upcoming Investigative or Formal hearing with the Florida Bar. We travel to all locations throughout Florida to appear before the Board of Bar Examiners.

Florida Bar Defense Attorney Hearing Tip of the Month

Having just returned from the Orlando meeting before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, I think it is important to emphasis to applicants the importance of fiscal responsibility.

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners is not a debt collection agency nor do they work for your creditors. If you are admitted as an attorney in Florida, you can immediately open a trust account and will be responsible for managing the account and making sure you follow all the bar rules concerning trust accounting. It is clearly a red flag if as a non-attorney applicant there is strong evidence of not being able to manage your own financial affairs.

One particular creditor the Florida Bar does not want to see you turn your back on is the Internal Revenue Service. If you owe the IRS money and you can’t afford to pay them at the time, make a payment plan or offer what you can afford. If anything, this at least evidences some financial responsibility that you can resolve your own debts and come to a resolution.

Many times creditors will accept pennies on the dollar and I work with and advise my Florida Bar hearing clients on how to resolve the vast majority of their debts prior to their hearing. While sitting before the Board it is best to not have anything delinquent.

For more information speak to a Florida Bar hearing defense lawyer at the Soreide Law Group.  We represent those seeking admittance to The Florida Bar, and existing lawyers, for both Investigative Hearings and Formal Hearings in front of The Florida Bar. Please call (888) 760-6552.

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners Scheduled Hearings 2014 – 2015

The following is a list of the meetings scheduled for the upcoming hearings before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. We will be traveling to each hearing location for our clients, and if you would like to discuss representation at any one of these upcoming hearing dates, call  Soreide Law Group at (888) 760-6552 for a consultation with an attorney at no cost.
                      2014
September  18th. through the 20th.      Orlando
October       23rd. through the 22nd.     Tampa
                    2015
January      15th. through the 17th.        Tallahassee
March         12th. through the 14th.       To be decided
April           16th. through the 18th.       Coral Gables
May             7th.   through the  9th.       Tampa
July             9th.   through the 11th.       Orlando
September 17th. through the 19th.        Jacksonville
October      22nd through the 24th.       Coral Gables
November  19th. through the 21st.        Tampa

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.

What is “Disqualifying Conduct” When Applying to the Florida Bar?

The following information was obtained on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners website. The result of the conduct listed here is often the reason our firm is called on when an Investigative or Formal hearing is requested by the Board of Bar Examiners.

“Pursuant to  rule 3-11 a record manifesting a lack of honesty, trustworthiness, diligence, or reliability may constitute a basis for denial of admission. Any of the following may be considered by the board to be a basis for further inquiry before recommending admission:

  • Unlawful conduct
  • Academic misconduct
  • Making or procuring any false or misleading statement or omission of relevant information, including any false or misleading statement or omission on the Bar Application, or any amendment, or in any testimony or sworn statement submitted to the board
  • Misconduct in employment
  • Acts involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation
  • Abuse of legal process
  • Financial irresponsibility
  • Neglect of professional obligations
  • Violation of an order of a court
  • Evidence of mental or emotional instability
  • Evidence of drug or alcohol dependency
  • Denial of admission to the bar in another jurisdiction on character and fitness grounds
  • Disciplinary action by a lawyer disciplinary agency or other professional disciplinary agency of any jurisdiction
  • Any other conduct which reflects adversely upon the character and fitness of the applicant”

This ends the information obtained on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners website.

Soreide Law Group represents 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 please call (888) 760-6552.

Florida Bar Investigative Hearing Defense Attorney Tip of the Month June 2014

Are out of state attorneys applying to the Florida Bar subjected to a higher level of scrutiny than first time applicants? There is no quantifiable data that can answer this question, but it is my opinion that yes they are.
Having personally represented over a hundred applicants before the Board, I see out-of-state attorneys applying to the Florida Bar for the first time, being called in for investigative hearings for what would normally not spark any further inquiry for first time new lawyer applicants. The logic behind this may be that retirees, typically from up North, who move down here should retire, and the Bar has an interest in retirees not “hanging a shingle” which would cut into the livelihood of existing Florida attorneys.
Either way, whatever the logic is, if you are licensed and practicing in another state and applying to the Florida Bar, it is wise to consult a Florida Bar Hearing Investigative Hearing Defense attorney to review your application before filing, and to not represent yourself if you are called in.
Licensed attorneys tend to want to represent themselves due to the fact that they have litigation experience in their respective area of law.  In most instances, the field of expertise they are licensed in does not translate to an administrative hearing, and a consultation with an attorney who routinely practices in this area is recommended.
If you have an upcoming investigative or formal hearing with the Florida Bar, call Soreide Law Group for a consultation at no cost with a Florida Bar Hearing Defense Attorney at (888) 760-6552. Our attorneys will travel to all locations in Florida to appear before the Board of Bar Examiners.

Florida Bar Hearing Defense Lawyer’s Tip of the Month for May 2014

After just returning from Tampa, after another successful administration of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, I returned with the thought that no crime is too old for the Board to inquire about. Time is a mitigating factor when it comes to bad acts, but it doesn’t mean the Board won’t want to learn about all the details of some youthful indiscretion even though, for example, you may have been still in high school.

The focus of the Board of Bar Examiners should be the status of your present character and Florida Bar Rule 3-12 (Determination of Present Character) (a) and (b) both consider the age and recency of the conduct at issue.

To be on the safe side, depending on the egregious nature of the past conduct (no matter how old), it may be wise to consider going above and beyond just being prepared to discuss the past crimes in detail. You may want to consider doing some meaningful community service to offer as evidence of rehabilitation.

Florida Bar rule 3-13 (g) considers all community or civic service. Florida Bar rule 3-13 (g) goes on to further state that, “the requirement of positive action is appropriate for applicants for admission to The Florida Bar because service to one’s community is an implied obligation of members of The Florida Bar.”

For a free consultation with a Florida Bar Hearing Defense Lawyer to help you meet your burden of proof that you possess the requisite good character to practice law in Florida, call Soreide Law Group at (954) 760-6552. We travel to all hearing locations throughout Florida of the Board of Bar Examiners.