Arrested

[SuicideNixon]

Folks, this is a no-brainer.

#1) ABSOLUTELY disclose this to every scool IMMEDIATELY. You may find a jurisdiction that will overlook the fact that you hid this information, but it won't be in the U.S. Send them a three-sentence addendum which states, 1) I was arrested for DWI, 2) it was on this date at this location, and 3) I have never been arrested for, or convicted of, any other crime.

#2) Nearly all lawyers are drunks, and many, if not most, have gotten into trouble over it. (If you doubt this, ask any lawyer- it's not an exaggeration). Believe me, disclosing the DUI isn't going get your app thrown directly into the bin. NOT disclosing it could cost you for life, and will almost certainly cost you time and money a few years from now.

DON'T START A LEGAL CAREER BY ACTING LIKE AN UNSCRUPULOUS LAWYER!

This guy is a fool. Read the apps, and only disclose anything if they asked for it orginally. Even this is complying with the spirit of the rule more than the letter, since a lot of apps do not say that you have to tell them if something happens to you after you submit the app. You only certify that the info is correct when  you send in the app. Also, it is not too late to send out a few more apps to schools that do not ask about arrests. I agree that you should drag it out until you are accepted or rejected everywhere; if you are convicted before you get a decision, you probably will have to send an addendum. Once you are in law school you are fine. No one is going to ask about convictions after you are in LS, except for bar examiners, and in which case you will just tell them and it will be fine since it was 3 years ago and you have kept your nose clean since then.

[vagrant]

don't listen to these yokels.  call the schools and ask exactly what they want you to do.  its better to find out right now that you need to delay going to law school, than to pork out $150,000 and be screwed up in the bar admissions process.  3 years of you life and $150,000 wasted.  Don't risk it.  Just call them, explain what happened, and do exactly what they tell you.

[Robespierre]

don't listen to these yokels.  call the schools and ask exactly what they want you to do.  its better to find out right now that you need to delay going to law school, than to pork out $150,000 and be screwed up in the bar admissions process.  3 years of you life and $150,000 wasted.  Don't risk it.  Just call them, explain what happened, and do exactly what they tell you.

Let's assume "do as you're told" is a good philosophy (it isn't, but whatever).  The law schools have ALREADY told him what to do.  The application states exactly what he needs to disclose.  All he needs to do is follow the instructions.

Only if the instructions are ambiguous does he need to ask for advice.  Even then, I'd get advice from an attorney, not some secretary at the law school who is just going to say "disclose to be on the safe side" (assuming she'll answer at all).

[Runner-up]

No, man. Play the "schizo" card, and claim you have no memory of it happening. It must have been your alter ego.

[Jumboshrimps]

Folks, this is a no-brainer.

#1) ABSOLUTELY disclose this to every scool IMMEDIATELY. You may find a jurisdiction that will overlook the fact that you hid this information, but it won't be in the U.S. Send them a three-sentence addendum which states, 1) I was arrested for DWI, 2) it was on this date at this location, and 3) I have never been arrested for, or convicted of, any other crime.

#2) Nearly all lawyers are drunks, and many, if not most, have gotten into trouble over it. (If you doubt this, ask any lawyer- it's not an exaggeration). Believe me, disclosing the DUI isn't going get your app thrown directly into the bin. NOT disclosing it could cost you for life, and will almost certainly cost you time and money a few years from now.

DON'T START A LEGAL CAREER BY ACTING LIKE AN UNSCRUPULOUS LAWYER!

This guy is a fool. Read the apps, and only disclose anything if they asked for it orginally. Even this is complying with the spirit of the rule more than the letter, since a lot of apps do not say that you have to tell them if something happens to you after you submit the app. You only certify that the info is correct when  you send in the app. Also, it is not too late to send out a few more apps to schools that do not ask about arrests. I agree that you should drag it out until you are accepted or rejected everywhere; if you are convicted before you get a decision, you probably will have to send an addendum. Once you are in law school you are fine. No one is going to ask about convictions after you are in LS, except for bar examiners, and in which case you will just tell them and it will be fine since it was 3 years ago and you have kept your nose clean since then.

Yes, read the apps. And if you find one that doesn't want to know about your DUI, throw it away. You don't want to go there.

This has nothing to do with law school and everything to do with admission to your state's bar.

[UofIEng]

Yes, read the apps. And if you find one that doesn't want to know about your DUI, throw it away. You don't want to go there.

This has nothing to do with law school and everything to do with admission to your state's bar.

...forget it

[Mrs Malaprop]

"For some states, it may not matter what a specific school's application says - they might expect you to disclose the arrest, even before any judgement has been made. You won't know for sure until you ask them - and since you can more than likely ask them without giving them your personal information, you really have nothing to lose by doing so."

Disagree with this 100%.  You can't get into trouble with the bar for not disclosing information THAT WAS NEVER ASKED FOR ON THE LS APPLICATION.  And there is no way the state bar is going to give anyone an advisory opinion as to what they need to disclose on a law school application. 

The advice to consult an attorney is of course good.  But if you can't afford it or can't get it done in time, just follow the plain language of the law school application.  Disclose what it asks for, no more and no less.

I wasn't suggesting that the state bar associations would offer an advisory opinion on the OP's specific case. But they probably do have guidelines that would make the OP's obligations in the matter more clear. If he/she needs further clarification, that would be the time to consult a lawyer.

My worry about going with the "follow the plain language of the law school application" plan of action is that many schools (all of mine, I'm not sure about other schools) say something to the effect that you must notify the school of any "significant" changes in your status up until you matriculate. But who knows what their definition of "significant" is?

The OP has already submitted applications. I know that you're not advocating withholding information from the schools that specifically ask about pending charges in their applications - I think we agree that there is a clear obligation to inform there. I also happen to agree that the OP should report only where there is an obligation to do so.

My point of disagreement with you is that I don't think that one should rely solely on the language on the applications to determine where there is an obligation to report. There is a possibility that schools that do NOT specifically ask about pending charges (Yale is the only one of my schools that does not, but I'm sure there are plenty of others) and/or the bar may decide that the information on the arrest and pending charges IS clearly a significant change in status, and that therefore there is a clear obligation to report it. When the conviction comes down (and let's face it, that's the likely outcome here) the OP's matriculating school will know about it (since that will have to be reported no matter what) - including the date of arrest. What if the school decides that not disclosing the arrest information constitutes bad faith on the part of the OP in the admissions process and revokes its offer? Or if questions about it arise during C&F about the choice to not disclose - less likely (because who knows what records the school will keep on this), but why take the risk?

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I would not feel comfortable myself unless I knew for 100% certain that I had disposed the matter properly.

[Robespierre]

I hear you, Malaprop, but I just don't see how a school that doesn't ask about pending charges (as opposed to convictions) in the first place could possibly conclude that failure to report a subsequent arrest (as opposed to conviction) is a significant lack of candor.  The risk of this happening is infinitesimal.  The only reasonable way to read "inform us of any significant changes" is that the school wants to be informed if anything happens that would make the answer on your app no longer true.

[Runner-up]

No, seriously, guy, your numbers better be good. Because to have something like this hit you right in the middle of the process is f-ing CRAZY!

If you have lousy  numbers, one of your few saving graces is being an upstanding citizen and never having to answer for getting in trouble with the authorities.