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Fired for theft of property of company in 2017 - am I in big trouble for my paralegal license application

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What is the name of your state? New York

I'm actually from Canada, but I can't find any Canadian legal forum so unless you know how this applies to Ontario, just answer please as if this is all happening in New York.

So, as my username suggests, I'm a paralegal student. A few years ago, I got my first job. I ended up getting fired on one of my last days of working for the summer for "Stealing (/theft) [company's] property". I mistook a payment for a tip. There was a company rule that no tips were allowed. I sort of forgot about that rule, but that's not my excuse. The real thing was that I didn't know how to respond if someone offered me a tip - do I refuse it (they told me that's what you're supposed to do when I got fired). I thought why not just accept the tip.

Anyways, now I'm really worried because in the paralegal licensee application, there is a "good character" portion in which you must disclose things like criminal convictions AND BEING FIRED FROM A JOB FOR CAUSE. The Law Society then determines if a hearing is necessary to address these facts about you that put your character into question. If they decide to have a hearing into your character, they determine in the hearing if you should be allowed to become a paralegal licensee or not, based on their finding of whether you have good character or not.

I was never prosecuted for their finding that I committed theft, so I don't have a criminal record. They did however issue me a tresspass notice stated the reason as "Violation Federal/Provincial/Municipal Law".

A factor I should mention too is that I have ADHD, and one symptom of ADHD I experience is doing things without thinking about the results. In other words, I am more likely to make mistakes like these than your average healthy person. I also often tell people personal things impulsively and then immediately regretting it, to give you some perspective on myself.

I would really appreciate any opinions on whether you think I will likely be brought to a hearing and what chances I may have of success, and what I should do to better my chances of successes. I think I good get some good character witnesses such as possibly a few of my professors, and I have volunteered for law firms, which exhibits good character. Even if you have little to no knowledge about this process, any transferable knowledge and opinions are appreciated.
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
The laws between the US and Canada are not the same. Heck, even the laws amongst the various states in the US are not the same. You should seek out legal advice in Canada. Since this is a very important matter, you would be better served speaking to a local attorney (or lawyer, or whatever they're called in Canada).


ETA: Just as a note, in about 5 seconds of web searching I was able to find 2 or 3 sites that purported to offer legal advice for Canadian law.
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
In the US, being able to adequately explain a reported explanation is a whole lot better than failing to disclose information (indicating that you can't be trusted to truthfully answer questions).
 

Just Blue

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? New York

I'm actually from Canada, but I can't find any Canadian legal forum so unless you know how this applies to Ontario, just answer please as if this is all happening in New York.

So, as my username suggests, I'm a paralegal student. A few years ago, I got my first job. I ended up getting fired on one of my last days of working for the summer for "Stealing (/theft) [company's] property". I mistook a payment for a tip. There was a company rule that no tips were allowed. I sort of forgot about that rule, but that's not my excuse. The real thing was that I didn't know how to respond if someone offered me a tip - do I refuse it (they told me that's what you're supposed to do when I got fired). I thought why not just accept the tip.

Anyways, now I'm really worried because in the paralegal licensee application, there is a "good character" portion in which you must disclose things like criminal convictions AND BEING FIRED FROM A JOB FOR CAUSE. The Law Society then determines if a hearing is necessary to address these facts about you that put your character into question. If they decide to have a hearing into your character, they determine in the hearing if you should be allowed to become a paralegal licensee or not, based on their finding of whether you have good character or not.

I was never prosecuted for their finding that I committed theft, so I don't have a criminal record. They did however issue me a tresspass notice stated the reason as "Violation Federal/Provincial/Municipal Law".

A factor I should mention too is that I have ADHD, and one symptom of ADHD I experience is doing things without thinking about the results. In other words, I am more likely to make mistakes like these than your average healthy person. I also often tell people personal things impulsively and then immediately regretting it, to give you some perspective on myself.

I would really appreciate any opinions on whether you think I will likely be brought to a hearing and what chances I may have of success, and what I should do to better my chances of successes. I think I good get some good character witnesses such as possibly a few of my professors, and I have volunteered for law firms, which exhibits good character. Even if you have little to no knowledge about this process, any transferable knowledge and opinions are appreciated.
You will likely not get a job because you don't seem to know, despite your education, that US Law and Canadian Law are different.
 

Just Blue

Senior Member
FYI: ParalegalStudent2019 was told back in May that this is a US Law only forum. Another reason s/he may not be a good fit for his/her job as a paralegal....;total disregard of rules.
 

Mass_Shyster

Senior Member
just answer please as if this is all happening in New York.

Anyways, now I'm really worried because in the paralegal licensee application, there is a "good character" portion in which you must disclose things like criminal convictions AND BEING FIRED FROM A JOB FOR CAUSE.
I've got good news for you. New York does not require you to get a paralegal license, so there's no place to disclose things like criminal convictions and being fired from a job for cause.

Hope that helps.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Now, all you have to do is apply for a paralegal license in New York. '

Of course, that knowledge does you absolutely no good anywhere in Canada or in the other 49 US states. What happens in New York is totally irrelevant anywhere outside of New York.
 

westside

Member
You went through the process of becoming a student in a field without researching this question on the front end?
 

quincy

Senior Member
Because ParalegalStudent2019 lives in Canada, advice needs to be sought in Canada. There is no "pretending" that US laws apply. They don't.

ParalegalStudent was told this the last time she posted to this forum.
 
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