Do you have to include unpaid internships on bar application Forum

[lawschoolsplit2023]

My understanding is to take nyc bar an affidavit is needed for every legal employment you did in past 10 years. If I apply for bar in 2029 when graduate from law school, do I have to include an unpaid internship I did in 2019 when wasn’t a law student and still in college? While my evals were stellar, someone made a complaint unbeknownst to me a year later about my name being defamed and employer was angry thinking I brought drama and would probably state on there while I wasn’t terminated and had good reviews, some reason why I am not fit. Can an unpaid internship at law firm 10 years before nyc bar be left out? If must be included how much would that potentially hurt me if I am financially responsible with no other issues and pure criminal record?

[nixy]

It's all forms of employment, paid and unpaid, so yes, if it falls within the 10 years before the date on your application, you have to disclose it.

No one will care what happened as long as you're honest about it, and didn't embezzle funds or maybe sleep with a client. (But also your former employer is extremely unlikely to tell the bar you're unfit to practice, even if they were pissed off about the situation. Employers have better things to do than to lie to state bar associations.)

[lawschoolsplit2023]

1). Did I read paid and unpaid internships have to be at least 6 months to list (my unpaid internship was 4)

2. So since I plan on graduating law school Spring 2029 thus likely taking June bar exam wanting to practice in nyc, and non paid internship was August -December 2019 I would need to list it for June 2029 bar in nyc. However Illinois doesn’t require listing unpaid internships so if I pass Illinois bar with results released November 2029 can I seek legal employment one year in Illinois say and then 2030 take nyc bar and internship will be out of 10 year listing window then?

[nixy]

1). Did I read paid and unpaid internships have to be at least 6 months to list (my unpaid internship was 4)

2. So since I plan on graduating law school Spring 2029 thus likely taking June bar exam wanting to practice in nyc, and non paid internship was August -December 2019 I would need to list it for June 2029 bar in nyc. However Illinois doesn’t require listing unpaid internships so if I pass Illinois bar with results released November 2029 can I seek legal employment one year in Illinois say and then 2030 take nyc bar and internship will be out of 10 year listing window then?

You also wouldn't have to list it in Illinois b/c they only ask for 7 years before your bar application.

But it. won't. matter. No one is going to care. Your employer from 2019 isn't going to badmouth you to the bar b/c your cousin is weird.

You are way overthinking this.

(However, if you did something like this, Illinois and NY are both UBE states, so you wouldn't have to re-take the bar exam, assuming your score was high enough for both states. You'd have have to pay a ton of money 2 years in a row, though, as well as get some kind of one-year job in Illinois and then move and so on. Way more work/$$ than is necessary.)

[lawschoolsplit2023]

Thanks so much I appreciate your answering all my inquiries and providing clarity with my confusion with these processes:

So, suppose I graduate from law school spring 2029 and take June bar in Illinois (though eventually want to practice nyc) and I land a good gig in Chicago. Does that mean if I scored high on Illinois bar after say year in Chicago, i wouldn’t need to retake nyc bar? But would still likely need to pass nyc character and fitness which by then (won’t have to list 2019 internship for ny c and f)?

[nixy]

Thanks so much I appreciate your answering all my inquiries and providing clarity with my confusion with these processes:

So, suppose I graduate from law school spring 2029 and take June bar in Illinois (though eventually want to practice nyc) and I land a good gig in Chicago. Does that mean if I scored high on Illinois bar after say year in Chicago, i wouldn’t need to retake nyc bar? But would still likely need to pass nyc character and fitness which by then (won’t have to list 2019 internship for ny c and f)?

Yes and yes - both Illinois and NY are part of the UBE (universal bar exam), which means that as long as you score high enough on it to meet both IL and NY requirements (which probably aren’t materially different), you can take it in IL and transfer that score to NY within some time frame (not sure what, I haven’t done this). But you will have to go through c+f in NY.

But there is absolutely no reason to take the bar in IL, move to IL to work in IL for a year, then pay to transfer your score and go through c+f again in NY and move to NY, instead of just disclosing this non-issue.