bankruptcy and the bar

What is the name of your state? Arizona.
Ok, I posted this on another forum, but I think this one is a more appropriate one. I have a problem with my credit...i ruined it in my twenties. Now I am a law school graduate and want to apply to the bar. Problem is they ask for my credit history, which is about five pages long( mostly delinquent old stuff). Should I just bite the bullet and file bankruptcy? I have a re-possessed car that I'm paying off at 29% interest and another one that I am still in possesion of but paying 21% interest and its killing me. I want to clean up my financial mistakes, but feel drowned by the amount of money I owe. When reviewing my bar application will the admissions counsel look less favorably upon a bankruptcy than a five page credit report of delinquent accounts? I asked the counselor at my law school and she seems to think that bankruptcy would look worse, but admitted that she was not sure. Please help with any advice!
Katie

Originally posted by k-rog
What is the name of your state? Arizona.
Ok, I posted this on another forum, but I think this one is a more appropriate one. I have a problem with my credit...i ruined it in my twenties. Now I am a law school graduate and want to apply to the bar. Problem is they ask for my credit history, which is about five pages long( mostly delinquent old stuff). Should I just bite the bullet and file bankruptcy? I have a re-possessed car that I'm paying off at 29% interest and another one that I am still in possesion of but paying 21% interest and its killing me. I want to clean up my financial mistakes, but feel drowned by the amount of money I owe. When reviewing my bar application will the admissions counsel look less favorably upon a bankruptcy than a five page credit report of delinquent accounts? I asked the counselor at my law school and she seems to think that bankruptcy would look worse, but admitted that she was not sure. Please help with any advice!
Katie

I do not mean to come off as harsh, but I have to ask you this. You are asking this question based on your own life style and education,('That being Law school', why is it you cannot answer yourself?

My opinion,(and only mine), it to keep paying, do not file bancruptcy, you have plenty of time down the line to do that.

The Bar Exam is your test, not your credit.

my question was regarding the general attitude towards bankruptcy vs. just a crappy credit report when one is being reviewed for the character and fitness part of the bar. the test isn't the only part of bar acceptance. the character and fitness section has to be completed at the same time i apply for the bar. no they didn't teach us how bankruptcy could affect our admission to the bar in law school that's why i'm on this message board. oh and by the way how did you form your opinion on what i should do?
katie

[bigun]

FWIW, I know two lawyers with just awful credit coming out of law school. Both were allowed to sit for the bar exam and both passed.
One I spoke with told he just came completely clean with the committee that interviewed him. Told them he battled an alcohol problem at one point but was now clean. He said they really lectured him about being careful with his personal life and to resist any temptation to abuse any trust accounts.
Personally, bk should be a last resort. If this is cc debt, you realize AZ has a very short SOL. If you're beyond the SOL, get involved with credit repair and avoid bk. [url]www.creditboards.com[/url] is a great place to start and a couple of lawyers post over there pretty frequently.
The previous poster makes a point at the end. Go ahead and admit to bad credit and pass the bar and then file bk. You won't be the first lawyer to file bk. {If bk is really necessary of course}.

thanks biggun. i only have one credit card debt. the rest are just little, but numerous, bills from the past that piled up. also, i have a civil judgement against me to pay on a repossesion that happened years ago, they got me just before the sol ran out. i'm not sure if i'll file for bankruptcy or not, it would help me out right now as i am also in a bad loan(21% interest) on a car and am barely keeping my head above water. i'll check out that other board you mentioned. thanks for the input on the other attorneys you know who had bad credit as well!
k-rog

[azgrandpa]

k-rog:

Here's a recent thread that discusses a similar question:

[url]http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=171858[/url]

It points out that it is against Federal law to discriminate against a person that has bad credit, when job hiring or licensing is involved.

Surely the Bar , of all people, would not violate Federal law in their admitting practices!!

[HomeGuru]

Originally posted by azgrandpa
k-rog:

Here's a recent thread that discusses a similar question:

[url]http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=171858[/url]

It points out that it is against Federal law to discriminate against a person that has bad credit, when job hiring or licensing is involved.


**A: I believe you misunderstood the referenced thread. The licensing issue involved government entities. The American Bar Association is not a government entity and does not license attorney's.
***********
Surely the Bar , of all people, would not violate Federal law in their admitting practices!!

**A: see above.

[divgradcurl]

Why don't you contact the bar association in the state in which you plan to take the bar and ask about their character and moral fitness requirements? They'll be in the best position to tell you what you should do.

EDIT: Sorry about not spell-checking before hitting enter!

[HomeGuru]

Originally posted by divgradcurl
Why don't you contact the bar association in the state in which you plan toi take the bar and ask about their character and moral fitness requirements? They'll be in the best posaition to tell you what you should do.

**A: good idea. Is your spell check function off?

[MuSen]

the discrimination claim is very limited with credit matters. They can just come up with an alternate reason why she was dumped.

As for the exam, I think she is asking preemptively if she should pull a Bryant and fail five times... he had his student loans wiped out but that was him not you. I dont really know how they analyze these scenarios in 2008, but I do know they would want to renegotiate on a good case. That would give you a reduction rather than a full discharge and I am imagining your student debt is over 50K. I am interested to hear from anyone who has experience with a Bryant style case.

[Zigner]

You DO realize that this thread will be celebrating it's fourth birthday party in just under a month, right?

If you have questions, you should start your own thread.

[VeronicaLodge]

hmmm i wonder what OP did and i wonder if she passed the bar and i wonder if her state bar admitted her......