Bar Admissions Blog
Arguing Redemption
Q. Is it really possible to overcome a checkered past when judges sit back on their bench, act "holier than thou," and look down on anyone with a questionable background?
A. From your question, I would guess that your previous experience with the judicial system was an unpleasant one and that your involvement in it may raise some concerns if you decide to pursue a legal career.
A questionable past will raise questions. But it will be your lawyer's job to answer these questions in a manner designed to emphasize your effort to put the past behind you and to move forward as a productive member of society.
If you have done your part to build a track record of redemption, your attorney will have the evidence needed to prove that you have been rehabilitated, no longer raise character or fitness concerns, and are eminently qualified for admission to the practice of law.
If you are as successful as the applicant in this video, you will enter a profession that believes in second chances. As the following hearing before the Court of Appeals of Maryland illustrates, judges will question past mistakes, but their chief concern is that you not repeat history:
