You’ve received a Notice Of Charges from the NY Board Of Law Examiners. How will this impact your character and fitness review? The letter says you are being charged with violating the Board’s Civility Policy, Security Policy or Board Rule 6000.13 which “prohibits acts of fraud, dishonesty and other misconduct in connection with the application to and the taking of the bar examination.”
The letter also describes the potential penalties.
“The Following Penalties Have Been Imposed for Misconduct Violations
- Nullification of examination results.
- Disqualification from taking future exams.
- Report to Committee on Character & Fitness having jurisdiction of the candidate.
- Report to other United States and foreign jurisdictions where the candidate is admitted or seeks admission.”
This is not something that you were expecting, and you never imagined finding yourself in such a situation.
It causes great anxiety and makes you question if your career and future are at risk.
You start to search for guidance and realize that finding trustworthy information about how to handle these specific charges is difficult to find. You don’t know how to respond and need help.
You want to get advice from an experienced BOLE attorney. You want someone who has done this many times for many people.
You should also look for a lawyer who will consider the fact that you may well have two audiences to address:
- Board Of Law Examiners (by submitting your response or Verified Petition)
- Future potential review by the Committee on Character & Fitness (the minimum penalty is being reported to the Committee and you would likely have to disclose the fact of the charges anyway even if proven innocent)
These are some of the questions that you may be wrestling with:
- What if I made a simple mistake? Can I easily get out of this?
- How serious is this really?
- Is it a bad idea to try to represent myself before the Board of Law Examiners?
- How can I be sure to present myself in the best light?
- Why should I consider having a lawyer help respond to the notice of charges and represent me?
- Why should I care about any Report to Committee on Character & Fitness?