The first year of law school is, in part, about jumping through hoops. Actually, it’s about showing the right people that you’re willing to jump through hoops, and then jumping through them. The toughest hoop for me was one particular application. Not an application to join something or get something, but an application to register…a request…to have someone else prepare a report…to apply…for the bar…three years in the future. Whew.
I’m referring to the application to register your request for preparation of a Character Report to the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) (standard version for the state of Iowa [pdf]). The application is a couple dozen pages, some with nice legal-sounding terms like “pendency,” and, in a nutshell, requires you to sign your life away. Well, certainly not your life, just any remnant of privacy regarding your life up to this point. Mental health history, medical records, substance abuse, expunged high-school disciplinary proceedings – it’s all fair game for the NCBE. Here is the clause that raised the hairs on the back of my neck:
I also authorize and request every person, firm, company, corporation, association, court, school, college, university, other educational institution, government agency, law enforcement agency, and any other agency having control of any records, files, documents, writings, or other information pertaining to me to furnish to the National Conference of Bar Examiners any such information regarding any and all charges, complaints, disciplinary actions, grievances, sanctions, suspensions, reprimands, disqualifications, censures, resignations, terminations, citations, arrests, indictments, convictions, judgments, courts-martial, non-judicial punishments, or administrative discharges (including those dismissed or otherwise erased or expunged by law, whether formal or informal, pending or closed), or any other pertinent data or information pertaining to me. I further authorize the National Conference of Bar Examiners or any of its agents or representatives to inspect and make copies of such documents, records, or other information.
It’s the “every person” and “any other pertinent data or information pertaining to me” that made me cringe. First, decide if “pertinent” applies to “data” and “information” or just “data.” If the latter, then by signing, you tell anyone who has any reason to have any information about you to hand that information over to the NCBE.
Then, combine that blank check with a following paragraph:
I hereby release, discharge, and exonerate the National Conference of Bar Examiners, its agents and representatives, the admitting authority of the above jurisdiction, its agents and representatives, and any person so furnishing information from any and all liability of every nature and kind arising out of the furnishing or inspection of such documents, records, and other information, or out of the investigation made by the National Conference of Bar Examiners or by the admitting authority.
I realize there are good, or at least good-intentioned, reasons for opening the door to every minutia of a future-lawyer’s life. And of course, we can trust the NCBE and its officers to keep such information confidential and use it appropriately (although it looks like if they don’t, we just signed away our rights to do anything about it). I also know that I shouldn’t complain, because I am lucky enough (or at least boring enough) not to have any “charges, complaints, disciplinary actions, grievances, sanctions, suspensions, reprimands, disqualifications, censures, resignations, terminations, citations, arrests, indictments, convictions, judgments, courts-martial, non-judicial punishments, or administrative discharges” against me. But the language of this agreement gives the NCBE rights to track down my junior high boyfriend (remember “every person”?) for a reference. And my 13-year-old willingness to break a heart should certainly mean more in terms of character and fitness than a speeding ticket, any day.
If there are any attorneys out there who would recommend that a client of theirs sign a contract of adhesion such as this, I would sincerely love to hear about it.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
The comprehensiveness of that form was scaring me until I thought about the kind of miscreants that are admitted to practice law … and I realized my record wasn’t that bad.
Eek.
99% of things you need to sign to get admitted to the BAR are contracts of adhesion. It’s like they teach what NOT to do, and then force you to do it.
My favorite topic in crim pro was the evolution of the reasonable person standard into the innocent reasonable person standard. After all, you should have no problem with revealing your entire record to the NCBE. That is, if you’re not a criminal.