<p>All right here is the situation, in 2004 I was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, cocaine as part of a plea agreement I plead to a D felony and was sentenced to 18 months probation after successful completion of the probation, the sentenced was commuted a an A misdemeanor. My academic record warrants admission to law school, but I think I'd be wasting my time applying to law schools? Wouldn't I be better served by waiting a few years? Law isn't totally out of the question for me is it? I mean there are attorneys who have had worst criminal records than I have, Judge Mathis comes to mind.</p>
<p>In most states a felony conviction (or plea) disqualifies you from bar admission. Check with your state bar.</p>
<p>I don't have a felony conviction. It's a misdemeanor now, after I completed the probation it was reduced to a class A misdemeanor so really I don't have a felony conviction.</p>
<p>But under full disclosure you will have to state that you did plea to a felony</p>
<p>if a felony plea is enough to prevent you from bar admission in the state where you want to practice, waiting a few years probably isn't going to help, unless maybe if you were a minor at the time and the record is later sealed. </p>
<p>another thing you'll have to consider are loans--I know a lot of government loans can't be given to people with drug offenses on their record. The difference between having 18,500 (the max you can take out each year) in private versus subsidized loans could be quite large.</p>
<p>also, i don't know anything about judge mathis but i do know that bars are typically more lenient for people who are already members than for those who are seeking to become members.</p>
<p>to piggyback on stacy's comments, you will have to fillout the fafsa as part of your financial aid process where it will ask you if you were ever arrested on or convicted of a drug offense. as she stated saying yes may make you ineligible to borrow the 18,500 of federal funds which is going to be the base of your FA package.</p>
<p>Regarding judge mathis; I beleive he ran into trouble as a junvenile and was probably able to get his records sealed.</p>
<p>*In the 1970s, he was arrested numerous times. Yet when incarcerated in Wayne County Jail, as a seventeen year old juvenile, his mother visited him and broke the tragic news that she was diagnosed with colon cancer. This event changed Mathis, and he was given the benefit of a considerate judge, who offered probation if he enrolled and passed a G.E.D. course in six months.
*</p>
<p>I don't think that a plea to a felony necessarily disqualifies a candidate from admission to the bar of most states, but the plea and details about the circumstances surrounding the plea will have to be revealed in the candidate's application to the bar. I agree that it is very important to check with the bar of the state in which the OP would plan to practice before attending law school.</p>
<p>In addition, I can't speak for every law school, but I do recall that each application to law school that I filled out also asked about any pleas or convictions for felonies or misdemeanors, as well as any pleas of nolo contendere. I am unsure how law schools use this information in their admissions process, but I can only assume that they consider whether an applicant would be eligible for admittance to the bar before admitting that applicant to law school.</p>
<p>I'm eligible for federal financial assistance right now, your elgibility is taken for a year when you are convicted of possession, and two years possession with intent. Or you can take drug classes and get eligibility regained after successful completion. I also sent an email Indiana bar, since thats the state I'm in, and I'm unsure as to where I'd eventually like to practice. I don't want to waste three years of law school, and never get admitted to the bar. I know bar assocatoins in all states exclude convicted felons, but I'm not a convicted felon.</p>