Tag Archive for: florida bar investigative hearing

Should You Proactively Join Florida Lawyers Assistance Before You Have Your Florida Bar Hearing?

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners has announced the following dates and locations for Florida Bar Hearings for the upcoming year, 2022. Some of the hearings will be in-person and others will be held via Zoom.

In-Person and Zoom Bar Hearings for 2022

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners has announced the following dates and locations for Florida Bar Hearings for the upcoming year, 2022. Some of the hearings will be in-person and others will be held via Zoom.

Social media Florida Board of Bar Examiners

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.

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

 

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.