Facing the Klieg Lights: Understanding the "Good Moral Character"

CLEMENSFINAL.DOC
3/30/2007 12:51:01 PM
2007] THE “GOOD MORAL CHARACTER” EXAMINATION 297
profession from which they may be excluded. 422 Further, students who
will have problems gaining admission could move forward with
knowledge of those potential problems and could try to establish
rehabilitation.
Law school application questions that imprecisely elicit past
criminal history should be revised “if for no other reason than to
minimize an excuse given by students for not disclosing their pasts.” 423
Improving question quality and teaching the importance of these
questions is a tactic supported by a student focus group which concluded
that “restructuring the application was necessary to highlight the
question’s significance.” 424 These students suggested presenting
questions in a more obvious font and providing a note of explanation. 425
The University of Houston Law Center is a model for advising
applicants in an educational and progressive manner about these
issues. 426
Schools should only ask clear and unambiguous questions so
applicants are not “expected to interpret vague or incomplete questions
about their character and fitness.” 427 This issue is not simply academic.
Failure to disclose a criminal history can result in denial. 428 Courts
recognize the necessity of educating potential law students on “the types
of conduct that will probably preclude them from practicing law before
422. McCulley, supra note 33, at 865-67
Upon entering law school, students are typically unaware of the stringent character and
fitness requirements required by state bars. From the outset of law school, schools
should provide adequate notice of fitness requirements. . . . Law schools should
encourage professors, as well as other members of the legal community, to participate as
mentors for law students.
Id.
423. McGuire, supra note 419, at 737.
424. Id.
425. Id.; see also id. at n.68
[W]hile this application may look similar to many you have completed before, it is
different. It is different because you are applying to law school, and because you will
upon the completion of your training be qualified to seek admission to a profession that
maintains high standards for the conduct of its members. Your obligation to be truthful,
complete, and responsible begins here. We urge you to take that responsibility seriously.
Please read the questions carefully, and provide full and honest answers to them. If you
are not certain whether you should include something, err on the side of full disclosure.
If you have some doubt about how to interpret a question on this form, please feel free to
contact our Admissions Director to discuss the matter.
Id.
426. See University of Houston Law Center, Admissions, http://www.law.uh.edu/admissions/
(last visited January 7, 2006).
427. Dzienkowski, supra note 415, at 933.
428. 7 AM. JUR. 2D Attorneys at Law § 26 (2nd ed. 2006) (citing In re Piro, 613 N.E.2d 201
(Ohio 1993)).