Character and Fitness

Currently, various and sundry individuals I know are receiving requests from the California Bar Admissions staff to opine on my character and fitness to be registered with the bar.  Notice I said registered.  I am not applying or admission or taking the exam, merely registering as an in-house counsel. See, most states permit licensed attorneys from other jurisdictions to register with the state bar so they can work as corporate counsels.

Not all states, however, require the attorney to complete a moral and fitness character application.  It is quite thorough and somewhat tedious - although California's is not near as lengthy as Arizona's.  So here are some hints:  if you complete one for one state, save it for the next one  - just in case.  You can pull a report from the Social Security Administration that will show pay that was reported under your SSN and addresses.  Both character applications I have filled out have asked for all jobs since 18 years old.  For an old fart like me, that is a long time.

Also, let my voice join others in cautioning you to be completely honest.  Don't hod back because you don't think the bar would ever find out if you do not disclose it.  They may not.  But if they do, you can be sanctions up to and including disbarred.  Just be honest.

Also, if you have something unfavorable, feel free to add an organized explanation.  For example, let's say you are divorced and there were credit cards in both names.  You took some, the spouse took the others.  You paid, the spouse did not so the accounts went into collection and show on your credit report. Most applications do ask about past due debts even those barred by the statutes of limitations.  Don't just fill out the paperwork and list the debt with the short explanation. Go ahead and explain the circumstances in a clear, organized manner and make it very easy for the reviewers to understand exactly what the circumstances are.  Don't make them have to think about it.

So we will see what happens with my application.  It should only be a couple of months from this stage.