Thread by @shonhopwood

Thread: August is the month that many people start applying to law schools, and this thread is for those with criminal convictions who want to go to law school.

We need you in the profession. The same groups that tend to be overrepresented in the criminal justice system are often the same groups that are underrepresented in the legal profession.

If we ever expect to end this country’s reliance on overincarceration, we need people like you to working as attorneys and sharing your stories in this space. Sometimes you just being in the room can have a profound impact.

You deserve a second chance. All too often criminal convictions continue to harm and punish people long after the sentence is served. And just because you were convicted of a crime does not mean you don’t have the current character and fitness to practice law.

The good news is that much has changed in the past ten years. Substantial progress has been made in convincing law school admissions offices that they are not the gatekeepers for state bar associations.

As a result, it is no longer a novelty for people—even those convicted of felony convictions—to attend law schools from Yale Law School on down. Look no further than @dwaynebetts. nyti.ms/3fv6DIc

The key in applying to law schools with a criminal conviction is transparency, contrition, and showing of rehabilitation through a compelling personal statement and letters of support.

Don’t hide your criminal convictions from law school admissions offices. They will find out, and even if they don’t, if you hide that information to get admitted to a law school, a state bar will discover it when you seek a law license. It will not go well.

Don’t minimize what you did. Don’t blame your actions on others. A law school application is not the place to raise a prosecutorial misconduct claim.

Explain why you have changed, and why your past motivates you to become an attorney today. That can make for a compelling law school application. It worked for now Washington State Representative @TarraSimmons5 bit.ly/3ywwiI0

Study, study, study for the LSAT or GRE. In the end, law schools generally care more about their U.S. News ranking then they do your possession of marijuana charge from ten years ago. If you can boost the law schools “numbers,” you have a better of chance at being accepted.

Some might disagree with this piece of advice: I highly recommend that you hire an LSAT or GRE tutor. The money you spend for this on the front end can save you thousands of dollars in scholarship awards if you do well on those tests.

My wife hired an LSAT tutor and improved her score. As a result, she received a full-ride scholarship to law school worth around $140,000. Law schools are incredibly expensive, and you don’t want to be saddled with debt for the next decade or more, if you don't have to.

Edit, edit, edit your personal statement. And then have several other people proofread it. And then edit it some more. This is your chance to make a good first impression with the admissions office.

After you’ve put the hard work in to score well on the LSAT or GRE and to edit your personal statement until it reads like a compelling cliff notes version of your life, just breathe and relax. Again, law schools are now looking at applications holistically.

And when you get to law school, don’t feel the need to wear your past on your sleeve. If you want to share your story from the first day you walk in, that is your decision. If you never want to, that again is your decision.

Good luck in law school. If you want more advice on the application process, the great @jformanjr and @YaleLawSch have more resources on navigating the process at this link: bit.ly/3jpfZ9E

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