Representing law students.
Candor, candor, candor.
For 50 years, I have represented law students applying to The Florida Bar. The applications call for detailed information and are filed with the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. The Board is an administrative agency and acts under the authority of the Florida Supreme Court.
The Board is very thorough and very strict in their review of each application. Applications by law school graduates from law schools in Florida and other states are routinely flagged for issues that will delay approval of the applicant, and in some cases, deny the applicant admission to The Florida Bar.
The focus of every application review is an evaluation of the applicant’s character and fitness. Of course, the law school graduate must pass the Florida Bar Examination before admission as an attorney licensed to practice law in Florida.
The most common reason applications are flagged is that the applicant was not fully candid in their responses.
For example, prior discipline in college or law school, prior school suspensions, prior arrests or law enforcement investigations, including traffic citations, alcohol or drug abuse issues, and mental health issues that are not fully disclosed in the application will result in the Florida Board of Bar Examiners writing to the applicant demanding further and complete information and details.
A failure to be candid will delay admission to The Florida Bar for months – maybe longer – depending on the information not disclosed on the initial application and/or any amendments which the applicant will have filed.
Another issue we often see in our many cases representing law students is the failure of the applicant to disclose the necessary information in the applicant’s law school application. The Florida Board of Bar Examiners reviews applicants’ law school applications and, much as with the application to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, when they discover pertinent information not disclosed to the law school, the applicant is directed to amend their law school application – even when the applicant has already graduated from their law school.
I cannot overstate the importance of candor; that is the main thing The Florida Board of Bar Examiners looks for and insists upon. Now, in 2024, with so much information available on the Internet, there are very few secrets that cannot be discovered and, rest assured that if there is negative information about you, there is a very good chance that the Florida Board of Bar Examiners will discover it and question you about it.
The Florida Board of Bar Examiners employs very skilled and experienced investigators whose sole job is to thoroughly investigate each applicant for admission to The Florida Bar. The investigators work closely with the lawyers who ultimately decide how to proceed in each case.
For the past 50 years, we have been very successful in representing law students and law school graduates before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. While our law firm is based in Miami, FL, we represent law students and law school graduates throughout Florida.
If you need our representation, call us. We do not charge for initial consultations. You are always better off being represented by an experienced lawyer who is a member of The Florida Bar and who understands how the Florida Board of Bar Examiners operates, and who will represent you well, as opposed to your attempting to handle the matter yourself.
The best time to retain us is when you are applying to law school or when you are a law student.
If you have already applied to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and need to amend your applications, or if the Board has written to you about problems with your application, let us represent you BEFORE you respond.
At Jeffrey S. Weiner, P.A., our team of three very experienced, dedicated attorneys who understand the Bar application experience. We have each lectured to law students at several law schools about the Bar application experience, always emphasizing the importance of candor.
Call us so that we can help you through the process, professionally and ethically.