Tag Archive for: Applicants for Florida Board of Bar Examiners

Florida Board of Bar Examiners Hearings 2022

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners has announced the following dates and locations of bar hearings for the remainder of 2022:

August 25-26, 2022           Zoom

September 15-17, 2022      Tampa, Florida

October 20-22, 2022         Orlando, Florida

November 17-19, 2022      Coral Gables. Florida

Soreide Law Group reminds all Florida Bar Applicants that if they are contacted by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners requesting an investigative or formal bar hearing, every Applicant should ask themselves if they are ready to proceed. Soreide Law Group represents Applicants in both investigative and formal hearings before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.

Each bar hearing requires evidence and testimony which is specific to you. 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 may be right for you.  The Board will waive the 15 day rule for submitting your evidence in advance if you are within the 15 day window. If this is the case, you would be able to bring your exhibits with you to the hearing itself. You must bring 5 copies of anything you intend to submit, one copy for each of the Board members, one for the record, and one for you.

If you are not sure if you are ready for your hearing on short notice, then you should consider waiting. Only if you are fully prepared and have done all of the work in advance should you rush into an earlier hearing. If you are not sure, you could 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 process. Soreide Law Group is conveniently based in Pompano Beach, Florida.  We will travel to every hearing location in Florida to represent our clients. If you have an investigative hearing or a formal hearing before the Florida Board, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced license defense attorney at no cost to you, at (888) 760-6552.

 

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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.

Florida Bar Hearing

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.