<p>I received a felony drug charge and possession of alcohol under 21 when I was 17yo. I had the charges expunged and have not gotten into any trouble since.Will this effect my chances of getting into law school and to what extent?</p>
<p>Did it effect your chances of getting into college?</p>
<p>You will, most likely, have to disclose this in the law school admissions process. I'd recommend writing an addendum that explains this and shows how you've grown from the experience. The degree to which it affects your chances depends upon the seriousness of the circumstances and how well you spin it. With the right guidance, this can (rather counterintuitively) actually become a benefit to your chances, as it sets you apart. please let me know if you'd like any additional advice.</p>
<p>This will not help you at all under any circumstances when applying to law school. You need to research "expungement" or "expunged" & look at the applications for each law school & each state bar to which you intend to apply. You should seek professional advice on this matter as it is more serious than you may think.
Applying to law school is different than applying to undergraduate school; applying to a state bar is even more serious. How you handle this matter will have life-long consequences for you in the legal field & regarding any employment that requires a security clearance.
If the felony drug charge involved "intent to distribute" allegations & subsequent "conviction", then your situation is very serious. "Expunged charges" prior to a conviction--whether by plea bargain or trial--than a post "conviction" expungement. For example, if the charges were expunged because you were tried & acquitted, then you are in much better shape then if "convicted" in some fashion & placed into a first time juvenile defendant program.
Were you convicted of these felony charges? Or to lesser charges? Was it by plea or by trial?
P.S. Please don't follow the advice in the above two posts.
P.P.S. I know of several different situations regarding law school grads applying for clearance to become members of a state bar. The process was so thorough that even a "taken into custody" event by the local Keystone Cops for picking a pumpkin from a farmer's field at the applicant's age 11, 12 or 13 years of age--for which no charges were filed & no hearings held (just called the child's parents) was disclosed almost twenty years later to a routine state bar background check.
Also, many--if not all- states will publish your name in legal &, possibly, local news publications seeking comment on your character & past if you pass the bar exam & apply for membership to the state bar. In light of this, if you are advised to not disclose , then plan to practice in another state than that where the charges, conviction & expungement occurred.</p>
<p>Note that applying to law school, while more difficult than applying to & getting in college, is much easier than getting clearance from any state bar.</p>
<p>It's not necessary to seek professional advice, IMO. </p>
<p>You have to read the LS applications and answer them truthfully. If an application asks have you ever been convicted of a crime--I've never seen one that doesn't-- you MUST answer YES. It does NOT matter what the law is re expungement. If you don't disclose, and it comes up later, you won't get admitted to the bar. The fact that you relied on some attorney's advice in deciding not to disclose won't help you. You should certainly indicate that the offense was expunged, but the fact that it was does NOT let you answer the question with a no. </p>
<p>Just read the questions very, very carefully. If the question is "Have you ever been convicted of a crime?" the answer is YES, no matter how the expungement came about. </p>
<p>As Coldwind said though, it's not getting into LS that is the problem. It's getting admitted to the bar. You have to take and pass the bar exam and then apply for admission. At that point the decision will be made as to whether you will be admitted. You can't get an advisory opinion before you take the test. One of my LS classmates who had been court-martialled out of the Navy for accepting a package to deliver for lots of $ which contained drugs--not a juvenile offense though--took and passed 3 bar exams that first summer out of LS. One of the three states admited him; the others did not.</p>
<p>Obviously, this is not the same issue you face; I tell the story only so you'll understand that you will not find out what impact your conviction will have until you actually apply to the bar and have to go through the "character and fitness" process. At that point, failure to disclose can hurt you more than the conviction itself.</p>
<p>I think that you should get professional advice from a practicing attorney whom specializes in bar related matters. Call your state bar for a reference to a listing of attorneys by specialization. I disagree with the above post in that, legally speaking, you need to know when a "conviction" is & is not a conviction. This is a very specialized & often subtle area, but how you handle this will affect your legal career & security clearances for the rest of your professional career.
As an offpoint example, a Presidential Pardon absolves one of a federal conviction for purposes of travelling abroad & getting into countries such as Australia & Canada, but may not help in other circumstances such as security clearances & regaining bar memberships or professional licenses. Many convictions do not affect medical practitioners, but other crimes result in lost medical licenses even though both are/were felonies. You need professional advice--or you must be willing to suffer the consequences later--sometimes much later--in life.
P.S. To be blunt: If one is too dumb to seek specialized legal advice under these circumstances, then that individual should seek a career outside of the practice of law. Even state bars encourage members to request advice before engaging in questionable transactions where the ethics rules are silent or confusing. The inquirey is a defense in any subsequent bar related or criminal action with respect to the issue of intent.</p>
<p>Again, ColdWind, I respectfully disagree. </p>
<p>As your post implies, this is a matter of state law. If the OP lives in X state and gets an opinion from a lawyer there that he need not disclose the offense, that opinion does NOT control the issue of whether he must disclose the offense when he applies to LS in a different state. The LS would probably take the view that whether a disclosure must be made is a question of law in the state in which it is located. I personally think it is highly unlikely that a LS is going to apply the laws of 50 states plus territories to determine what must be disclosed to it. While I can't say I actually know this for a fact, it seems to me that a LS located in New York will apply NY law to all applicants and a LS located in Illinois will apply Illinois law to all applicants, no matter where they happen to reside when they apply to LS.</p>
<p>Unless the OP is ONLY applying to law schools in the state in which he his record was expunged, the opinion of the lawyer is NOT going to help him. At the very least, he should talk to an attorney in each and every state in which a LS to which he is applying is located. </p>
<p>Then after LS grad, the OP may move to a different state and seek admission to the bar. When he is asked about convictions in the bar application, the governing law will be that of the state where he seeks admission. </p>
<p>At that point, it is highly probable that in at least SOME states, he will be forced to disclose the conviction, no matter what advice he was given 4+ years earlier when he applied to LS. And the next question will be "Why didn't you report this when you applied to law school?" And the answer is going to be because some lawyer told me I didn't have to. IMO, that's NOT going to cut it--especially if the lawyer did not practice law in the state where the LS is located. Why would you think that an attorney practicing law in,e.g., Texas, could tell you what you had to disclose when you applied to a LS in Illinois?</p>
<p>As an attorney, I have called the ethics hotline of my local bar association several times with thorny problems. However, I have never sought an ethics opinion from the bar of a different state. I don't think it would be much of a defense if I were to do so. That's what may end up happening here. Yes, certainly on a moral level, I think the bar would take the fact that you got advice from an attorney and acted in reliance on it into account. </p>
<p>However, the safest thing to do is to read the question carefully and answer it truthfully. If the OP wants to consult an attorney, (s)he should feel free to do so, but I'd strongly urge him to consult an attorney in each state where the LSs he applies to are located.</p>
<p>This is not legal advice.</p>
<p>I was not charged with intent to distribute, and I do believe my record is expunged and I went through a diversionary program to avoid conviction.</p>
<p>California asks prospective lawyers to provide the following information as part of a moral character application required for admission:</p>
<p>"Details of any arrests, convictions, administrative proceedings, complaints, scholastic discipline, bondedness, indebtedness, and bankruptcies with associated dates and final disposition or current status. Copies of any complaints or claims against you and the subsequent rulings and copies of any pleadings/allegations against you and the judgments must be provided."</p>
<p>A friend of mine who had voluntarily gone through drug and alcohol rehab had his admission to the New York Bar delayed while he provided supplemental information indicating that he was still clean and sober. It looks like they've modified that policy now, as they don't want to discourage people from seeking help. But prior history (even as a junvenile) is something they do look at in New York, as evidenced in the pamplet published by the New York Bar titled, "Are You Fit to Be Lawyer":</p>
<p>"CONDUCT THAT MAY BE CAUSE FOR CONCERN
"Members of Character and Fitness Committees typically consider the following conduct as cause for further inquiry before making a
recommendation to the Appellate Division regarding character and fitness:
Unlawful conduct (even conduct that you may consider minor – including speeding or other traffic infractions, underage offenses, alcohol consumption or drug charges, disorderly conduct and other offenses)
Academic or employment-related misconduct
Acts involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation
Neglect of financial responsibilities or professional obligations
Violation of a court order (child support, restraining orders, or other disobedience of court directives)
Conduct evidencing mental or emotional instability
Conduct evidencing drug or alcohol abuse or addiction (open bottle,DWI, or underage drinking charges)
These are grounds for further inquiry but do not mean that your application for admission will necessarily be denied. If you have engaged in any
conduct of serious concern, you should seek more information on the requirements from the appropriate Appellate Division.</p>
<p>"Neither receiving treatment for alcoholism, drug addiction or mental health concerns, nor the status of being a recovering alcoholic or recovering addict are grounds for denial of admission to the bar. In New York, the focus of the inquiry is on whether chemical abuse or addiction or a mental health condition impairs the applicant’s current ability to practice law. The bar application asks whether the applicant has “any mental or emotional condition or substance abuse problem that could adversely affect” the “capability to practice law”, and
whether the applicant is “currently using any illegal drugs.”While honesty in disclosing past conduct (for example, arrests and convictions) is essential, disclosure of past treatment is not required.No questions are asked about past treatment. The Committees encourage law students who are experiencing drug, alcohol or other addiction or mental health issues to address those issues as soon as possible, regardless of when the student plans to seek admission to the bar."</p>