Please submit documentation of your unsuccessful attempts to obtain law enforcement or court records, such as a letter from the relevant entity confirming why the record is unavailable.

No. There is no act of misconduct that automatically disqualifies an applicant from obtaining a positive moral character determination. The State Bar makes moral character determinations on a case-by-case basis, considering each applicant’s history. When an applicant has a criminal history, the State Bar determines whether sufficient rehabilitation and other relevant factors have occurred to warrant a positive moral character determination. Please review the Moral Character Guidelines for additional related information.

Traffic violations that resulted in a misdemeanor or felony conviction must be disclosed on the moral character application, as well as the specific examples provided in the moral character application. Violations must be disclosed without regard to when they occurred.

Yes. The moral character application requires disclosure of all debt that is delinquent at the time the application is submitted. Applicants must also disclose all incidents of student loan default, even if the loan is current at the time the moral character application is submitted.

Maybe. If you disclose a current student loan in default or delinquent debt on the moral character application, you must provide a current credit report dated within the last 30 days. A credit score summary is not acceptable in lieu of a complete credit report if one is required.

No. Neither indebtedness nor bankruptcy is necessarily relevant to a moral character determination. Moral character issues may arise if indebtedness was handled irresponsibly, or bankruptcy was used to defraud creditors.

Yes. If you have been found to have violated a college, university, or law school honor code; or have been dropped, suspended, warned, placed on disciplinary probation, expelled, or requested to resign or allowed to resign in lieu of discipline by any college, university, or law school; or otherwise have been subjected to discipline by any such institution or been requested or advised by any such institution to discontinue your studies, you must disclose the incident on the moral character application.

A nonjudicial punishment, court-martial, resignation in lieu of court-martial, administrative discharge, or a discharge that is not “honorable” may be relevant to a moral character determination, but it does not automatically exclude an applicant for admission to practice law in California.

Maybe. 

For the Determination Application, you must report all driver’s licenses ever issued to you in the application. For each jurisdiction, other than California, in which you have held a driver’s license within the last 10 years or since the age of 18, whichever is shorter, you must provide a copy of your driving record that meets the following requirements: an original and certified copy, issued within 6 months of the date on which the current application is submitted, and contains at least 5 years of your driving history or the longest timeframe provided by the jurisdiction, whichever is shorter. 

For the Extension Application, you must report all driver’s licenses held since your prior application. For each jurisdiction, other than California, in which you have held a driver’s license since your prior application, you must provide a copy of your driving record that meets the following requirements: an original and certified copy, issued within 6 months of the date on which the current application is submitted, and contains at least 5 years of your driving history or the longest timeframe provided by the jurisdiction, whichever is shorter. 

If a driving record is in a language other than English, you must provide a certified English translation with the driving record. You may not translate your own documents. 

If the jurisdiction that issued the driver’s license will not provide a copy of a driving record, a letter from the agency stating that no record will be provided should be submitted in lieu of the driving record.

Yes. A certified copy of each out-of-state driving record must be uploaded to the moral character application prior to submission. An application received without the out-of-state driving record(s) will be considered incomplete and will delay the processing of the moral character application.