Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The application to the bar

An application to a state bar is a lot more complicated and time-consuming than I ever would have imagined. You have to turn over your entire life. Now for someone just out of undergrad, this may also be time consuming. But 18 years after undergraduate, having also moved extensively due to work, this becomes almost an insurmountable problem.

So what goes into a bar application? And what are all of the parts just to get to the bar?

1. Character and Fitness forms. Luckily, the state I am applying takes the National Conference of Bar Examiners' form. So at least one of the forms is in a localized place.
a. Addresses - finding those can be a huge pain. But there are ways, including research sites on the web.
b. Traffic tickets - I know I have 2, one over 10 years ago and 1 over 20 years ago. I am almost certain which states for each. And that is as far as I have gotten.
c. Then there is the education list, the work list, etc. The part-time jobs I had in college are going to be difficult because at least 3 of those are no longer in business and I have no idea what the names were.
d. The time...just a lot of time to sit down and do it.

2. Affadavit of why I didn't apply prior to 390 days of being in law school. Do they accept...I didn't have a job in that state and had no idea that it was even possible? It also must be notarized so that is one more step.

3. Dean Certification from the Law school. Got to get it in to the Dean prior to January. Though they will obviously not fill it out until graduation.

4. The Student registration forms

5. The Bar registration forms

Basically, I am getting confused on which forms I have to fill out, how I am going to find all the information I need, etc.

Breathe...just breathe

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