<p>A few years ago, I was in a little fender-bender. Nobody was injured and the damage to the cars was very minor, and I have been accident-free ever since. I was issued a ticket by the police though.</p>
<p>I noticed on one of my law school applications that if you were convicted of a misdemeanor, minus parking violations, that you must inform the school. Since this was not a parking violation, does this mean I need to include information about this incident? If so, will this have serious ramifications for me?</p>
<p>Better to err on the side of caution. If you don't disclose it, it may have consequences for you when you've graduated law school and trying to make the Bar.</p>
<p>In many jurisdictions, a traffic violation is something less than a misdemeanor. However, I would just write "minor traffic violations" on the application and leave it at that.</p>
<p>If you are convicted of a misdemeanor you usually need to submit an explanation stating the "who, what, where when, why" of the situation. Depending on the law school they may even ask for court documents. Traffic violations are excluded from this, unless it involved drugs or alcohol. The policy varies by school. Some schools ask you to disclose traffic violation but do not require an explanation, while others ask to exclude them altogether.</p>
<p>A law school's website may give more information on their specific policy.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! And yes, you were right--I made a mistake. My ticket was not considered a misdemeanor. It was counted as a 0-point NJ traffic violation. I guess I still need to submit an explanation though?</p>