Tag Archive for: denial to bar for financial debt

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.

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.

The Ohio Supreme Court Denied Law License for Law School Graduate with $170,000 in Student Loans

Many law school graduates are all too aware of their accumulating pile of debt, but few may realize it can prevent them from practicing law and destroy any hopes of paying down their loans, wrote Susanna Kim of abcnews.com in a recent article.

The highest court in Ohio denied recent law school grad, Hassan Jonathan Griffin, his bar application because he didn’t have a plan to pay back $170,000 in school debt.

The Ohio Supreme Court, on January 11, said Griffin lacked a “feasible plan to satisfy his financial obligations.”  Griffin’s debts include $150,000 from law school, $20,000 from his undergraduate studies and $16,500 in credit card debt.

The Ohio Supreme Court, which regulates admission to the practice of law in Ohio, requires that an applicant be at least 21 years old, have a bachelor’s degree and law degree, and pass the Ohio bar examination.

The state’s rules specify that prior to taking the bar exam, applicants must demonstrate they possess “the requisite character, fitness, and moral qualifications for admission to the practice of law.”

Griffin, 40, had applied in November, 2009, for the February, 2010 bar exam, but his increasing financial obligations led to an investigation by the state’s Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness.

Griffin graduated from Arizona State University in 2004 when he was 34 and worked full-time as a stockbroker for over five years before attending The Ohio State University Mortiz College of Law.

It was reported that since completing his first year of law school, Griffin has worked 24 to 32 hours a week at the Franklin County Public Defender’s Office.  Though he graduated from law school in 2008, he has been unable to obtain a full-time job and still earns $12 per hour at the public defender’s office.

The board recommended that the court reject Griffin but permit him to reapply for the February, 2011 bar exam. Griffin confirmed he is re-applying for the February exam and said his financial matters are now in better order.

Many law school grads are unemployed,  but it is rare they fail the character and fitness test because of their personal finances.

In April, 2009, the Texas Court of Appeals revoked the probationary law license of a man in Houston with undergraduate and law school loans of around $90,000 plus interest and $58,000 in “unsecured loans.”

“We handle about 100 contested hearings a year, and very rarely is financial responsibility the subject of the hearing, and even more rarely is the situation where the board decides to deny” the license,  the Texas Board of Law Examiners’ executive director Julia E. Vaughan told The Texas Lawyer.

The New York state appellate court rejected the license application of Robert Bowman in April 2009, according to a story in the New York Times. A court subcommittee cited student debt of over $430,000 belonging to the University of California’s Hastings law school graduate.

The Education Department recently decided that Bowman’s debts will be recalculated and he is not in default, allowing him to re-apply for his license.

Kim writes that the American Bar Association (ABA) reported that the average amount borrowed for law school was $91,506 for private schools and $59,324 for public schools in 2008.  A committee from the ABA wrote in a report that these figures do not include debt from students’ undergraduate years and an average law school student will graduate with debt “well in excess of $100,000.”

But among law graduates from the class of 2008, 42 percent of graduates had an annual salary of less than $65,000. And the ABA report said prospects are even bleaker now, with students competing for half as many jobs at top law firms.

“Far too many law students expect that earning a law degree will solve their financial problems for life,” the ABA committee wrote. “In reality, however, attending law school can become a financial burden for law students who fail to consider carefully the financial implications of their decision.”

Attorney Lars Soreide, of Soreide Law Group, PLLC, represents those seeking admittance to the Florida Bar, and existing lawyers, for both Investigative Hearings and Formal Hearings in front of the Florida Bar. For more information about our services please call (888) 760-6552 or visit: www.floridabarhearing.com.