Tag Archive for: Florida Bar Investigative Hearing Attorney

Florida Bar Hearing Dates Set for May and July

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners has set hearings dates for bar applicants with investigative and formal hearings on May 10 -12, 2018, in Coral Gables, Florida, and July 13 -14, 2018, in Jacksonville, Florida.
If contacted by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners requesting an investigative or formal bar hearing, every Applicant should ask themselves if they are 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 oftentimes an 8 month to a year delay to your file. Soreide Law Group is representing Applicants in the upcoming Coral Gables and Jacksonville hearings before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.
The Board does allow the 15 day rule to be waived to submit your evidence in advance if they notice you are within the 15 day window. In this case, you can 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 Hearing on short notice, then you should wait. Only if you are fully prepared and have done all of the 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?” No two hearings are the same and each hearing requires evidence and testimony which is 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. Soreide Law Group travels to every hearing location in Florida to represent Applicants. We are conveniently based in Pompano Beach, Florida.
If you have an investigative hearing or a formal hearing before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners call 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.

New Florida Bar Hearing Defense Attorney Video