I realize that a lot of the readership of this blog comes from hoodlums, hooligans, or general ne'erdowells. So I found this week's reader question especially appropriate:

• Can i get into any law school if i have a criminal record? Does it depend on how bad the crime was or am i just ineligible? If so, then is there anything that i can do to help myself and get into law school?

Answer below...

You're really fighting a battle on two fronts when you want to get into law school with a criminal past.

First, you have to meet the subjective moral and ethical standards of the law school to which you apply.

Second, you have to pass your state bar's scrutiny, called the character and fitness committee.

Getting into a School
All schools are different regarding whom they accept or deny based on past criminal charges and convictions. Check with the admissions office of the school, your pre-law advisor, and others familiar with your target school's policies on this.

While some crimes will probably outright disqualify you from entry into most law schools, hopefully you can find a pre-law advisor who can advise you on how to best approach your explanation in your application to law schools of your criminal record and your subsequent rehabilitation.

But especially if you have good LSAT and GPA numbers, I don't think that getting into, maybe not your first choice of, but A law school will be the biggest problem for you.

Passing Your State's Character and Fitness Exam:
You have to remember that getting into law school is just the first step. Even if you get into law school you may still have a problem gaining acceptance into a state's bar association.

There will be a character and fitness portion of the bar exam which you will have to pass. It's the most thorough background check you will likely ever encounter in your life.

Each state has it's own set of rules regarding critera for letting people with criminal backgrounds become lawyers. Some states are stricter than others and some states are known to be more lenient regarding applicants' past crimes. I'm not sure which states are which.

You need to check with someone who is familiar with rules and regulations of the bar association in the state in which you wish to practice. That means you may have to consult a lawyer or someone else (say your local law school's profesional responsibilities professor) who knows more about this sort of thing.

Additionally you may have to be willing to apply to become a lawyer in one of the states known to be lenient even if it is not your first choice. This, of course, depends on the severity of your crime.

But the fact is, you don't want to end up going to law school and then find out, after you've paid the cost of law school, that you will not be accepted into a certain state's, or any state's for that matter, bar because of past criminal convictions or charges. So figure out before going to law school where your state stands on your character and fitness issues if you can.

The best advice I can give is don't lie about your criminal record either on your law school application or character and fitness exam portion of the bar. Sometimes you can explain away a criminal record. But if they catch you lying about your past record, they are probably not going to let you in.

I'll add that in my state it is possible to apply to character and fitness during first year of law school. It would definitely be a good idea to take advantage of that if possible in your state should you foresee potential character and fitness acceptance problems or if there is any chance you won't get accepted so that you can plan a course of action as early as possible.

This website from University of Massachusetts Pre-Law Advising Office goes into more detail about getting into law school with a criminal record. You should definitely check it out.