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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    1

    Default Applying to Law School Despite a Moral Turpitude Conviction

    Can someone please tell me the chances I have of entering law school and being accepted by the bar in Texas when I have committed two offenses of moral turpitude? I shop lifted both times under $50 in November 2002 and January 2003. I was 22. I have not and will not commit anymore offenses. I was not thinking when I did those offenses and I did not know that law was going to become my passion.

    I will obtain my records from the Dallas County Municipal Court. I have run a criminal background check and show nothing. I do not the schools have a broader ranger of data. Also, I never received any of the options I read here people had. I just paid both fines and moved on. I wanted it to get them passed me.

    If I cannot be accepted to law school for my wrongs then I will accept and move on. If I am able to at least try and apply, I would do so in 3 years. That would make my offenses about 7 years old.

    In addition, I became a legal US resident months after my second offense and I stated to the INS officer that I had not committed any crimes. I was afraid to be deported and for my family to find out my horrible crime.

    Will the law school and the bar check with INS to find out what I said during my interview?

    Can INS find out what I put on my law application? Meaning accepting those crimes.

    I will be eligible for citizenship in about 1 or so. I would think I can obtain it since after my residency I have been a citizen of moral values.

    I realize that Character & Fitness is essential of an attorney and my offenses where dishonest - but I was young. However, I also know that if I open a can of worms I may get into more serious trouble.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: I want to apply to law school but have a moral turpitude

    A couple of shoplifting incidents, of themselves, should not stop you from being able to join a state bar. But....

    You were a grown-up, obviously should have known better, and let's not kid ourselves - those two arrests are out of dozens or hundrends of shoplifting incidents where you mostly got away with it. If you have not stopped stealing, or have psychological issues which compel you to steal, take care of that problem now - you need to convince the bar's committee on character and fitness that these actions are part of your past, and a new shoplifting arrest won't help you on that front.

    I'm not sure how you got away with lying to the USCIS, but I suggest that you not continue to lie in the future. Shoplifting often falls under the "petty offense exception" to immigration law, such that it won't necessarily result in exclusion from qualification for a visa or permanent residency. But lying on your immigration paperwork is a whole 'nother story. You get caught doing that and you may find yourself in deporation proceedings. Given that you have already lied on your immigration paperwork, I suggest that you consult an immigration lawyer.

    It's unlikely that the bar or USCIS will see what you wrote to the other. But stop lying so that it doesn't make a difference.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Applying to law school despite a moral turpitude conviction

    The answer is 'no'.... and keep your mouth shut, just like the attorneys do when they violate rules of ethics and criminal statute. Its not uncommon, even in the legal field. Look up the CA state bar complaints against attorneys. Most of those would fall under criminal jurisdiction had the Bars not voted to hide their own trash.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: Applying to law school despite a moral turpitude conviction

    California's bar is pretty much bankrupt and, without the cash to do the job right, its reputation is that it does an abysmal job with lawyer discipline. But nothing the bar does can protect somebody from criminal prosecution. If a member of the bar commits a crime, the victim can make a police report and the lawer is subject to prosecution, just like everybody else.

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