- Practice of law is a profession that demands the highest levels of honesty, integrity, and responsibility. In assessing applicants, law schools must evaluate not only academic potential but also the character and fitness of those seeking admission to the bar. As such, applicants are required to disclose information relevant to their background, including academic, professional, and personal matters that may reflect on their judgment, truthfulness, or ability to uphold the ethical and professional standards of the legal profession. Full transparency in responding to all inquiries is paramount.
Below are questions regarding your character and fitness to practice law. Please be aware that your application will not be prejudiced simply because you answer Yes to any of the questions. UDC Law will evaluate your answers to the questions in the context of your entire application. We believe that your ability to reflect on the challenging life circumstances and the impact of those experiences on your path to a legal career adds tremendous value to your law school application and experience. If you answer Yes to any of the following questions, you must provide a statement which includes:
- the date(s) of the incident(s)
- the original charge or citation
- the specific nature of the incident
- a detailed explanation of the relevant facts/circumstance
- show the matter was resolved (including any reduced charges or lesser included offence
- any supporting documentation
Simply providing copies of court documents does not satisfy this requirement. Your answers to these questions are confidential and will only be used for the determination of your character and fitness for admission to law school and to practice law, unless UDC Law is required to share this information pursuant to a court order or if required by a jurisdiction where you are sitting for a bar examination.
NOTE CAREFULLY: The Admission Committee wishes to emphasize to applicants that failure to disclose an act or event described here can be more serious than the act itself. [Many state bar associations require a candidate to reveal all criminal or disciplinary charges, even if expunged.] If in doubt, always err on the side of full disclosure. You must disclose all matters requested on this law school application, even if you have been advised otherwise by anyone else, including legal counsel. This means you must disclose matters even when an arrest did not lead to a charge, a charge was reduced or dismissed, you were acquitted or found guilty, adjudication was withheld, deferred, or diverted, or a conviction was reversed, set asi
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Have you ever been academically dropped, dismissed, suspended, warned, placed on academic or disciplinary probation, disciplined, expelled or found in violation of student policy/honor code, from any post-secondary school, college, university, or professional school?
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Have you ever been cited, charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or plead guilty or nolo contendere to a violation of any law? You must report all violations, even if those violations have been expunged. Repeated moving violations, unpaid parking tickets, or driving while intoxicated or impaired are viewed by some jurisdictions as serious offenses and should be reported here.
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Have you ever been involuntarily separated from a job as a result of an accusation that involved fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation, or any other act of dishonesty?
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Have you ever had a professional license suspended or revoked, or been subject to disciplinary action by a professional organization, association, or licensing board?
If you answered yes to ANY questions in the Character and Fitness section, you MUST provide a COMPLETE explanation, which includes essential information (e.g. date, specific nature of the charge/incident, the circumstances that led to the charge/incident, disposition of the matter, etc.) Simply providing court documents does not satisfy this requirement. Please note: additional information may be requested by the Admission Committee before a final decision on your application is rendered.
- I acknowledge that I have fully read and understand the Character and Fitness instructions.
