The Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness met on Friday July 7^th  to review all applications to sit for the July 2023 Ohio Bar Examination. At this point, you should have received your approval or disapproval to sit for the Bar, in Wilmington, Ohio on July 25 and 26, 2023. To those that were approved – Congratulations and good luck!

If you were disapproved, don’t be entirely discouraged, all is not lost. We can help.

Getting disapproved doesn’t mean you will never sit for the Ohio Bar Exam; it just means your process will be longer. There are many reasons a person may have their Bar Exam Application denied by the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness. One is, that they would like to be provided more evidence of good and moral character prior to levying a final decision. The burden of proof is on you, as the candidate to prove your current character and fitness is worthy of the opportunity to sit for the Ohio Bar Examination. Evidence of current character, fitness and moral qualifications and/or rehabilitation, if there are issues in your past, can be the key to ultimately receiving an approval.

If you received a disapproval, and you haven’t already, it would be well-advised to seek advice and counsel of a lawyer who engaged in the Ohio Bar Admissions Process. The value of attorneys in this area of law, is that they have had the benefit of successfully representing applicants who have been disapproved. If that success is obtained at the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness level, this matter will remain forever confidential.

Our advice if you received a disapproval:

1. Seek Counsel who engages in representing law students – You have put too much time, effort and money into receiving your education.
2. Do no read the Character and Fitness Decisions that you can find on lexis, westlaw, etc – Those cases are not a representation of your situation. They have been disapproved or approved by the Supreme Court after failing to secure an approval by the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness. We have had great success at our firm of counseling students and advocating on their behalf before the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness when the process is still confidential, and our past clients are lawyers today.
3. Keep focused on your goal, of becoming an Ohio licensed attorney. Take a break, but be prepared to start gathering the relevant materials to meet your burden.

Should you have any questions regarding your disapproval or the Ohio Bar Admissions process, please do not hesitate to contact our office. We would be more than happy to speak with you.