Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools? Forum

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Tell them you got fired with the least details
4
36%
Tell them you got fired with clear, deep details
3
27%
Don't tell them
2
18%
Find a different career
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No votes
Maybe let them know after they admit you lol
1
9%
I think TJSL won't mind
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Total votes: 11

QContinuum

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by QContinuum » Thu Jan 10, 2019 11:31 pm

I would disclose. You have a continuing obligation to update your application for accuracy (this obligation continues even after you matriculate to law school), and if you don't do so, the fact of your for-cause termination will likely be unearthed by future background checkers.

I would frankly recommend hiring a professional admissions consultant to advise you on how to explain this. Because you should definitely write an addendum to explain. You want to be completely honest, and completely accepting that physical violence is never OK, but at the same time emphasize the relatively minor nature of what you actually did, especially in the context of your coworkers often getting physical with each other. It's a tricky balance to strike. Lean too far in one direction, and you could easily torpedo your application by giving adcoms the impression you're violent. Lean too far the other way, and you could again sink yourself by giving adcoms the impression you're trying to excuse physical violence.

aadcsplitter

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by aadcsplitter » Fri Jan 11, 2019 9:57 am

Agree that you should disclose. Take full responsibility, don't hedge or make excuses. Do emphasize the singular nature of the incident (i.e not a violent person, never cited for similar acts, never arrested/suspended etc.) Speak on what you learned / how you grew from the incident maybe?

Anecdotal but I know of at least one incident much uglier that did not prevent someone from going t14. Good luck.

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LSATWiz.com

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by LSATWiz.com » Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:20 pm

Seconded regarding talking to an admissions consultant. You can consider a C&F attorney as well as although they are focused with admission to the bar rather than admission into law school, they have a very good sense of how a third-party will interpret a disclosure. However, they may be much more expensive.

You may also want to consider withdrawing your apps and taking some time to separate yourself from this incident because it's the kind of thing that is not a big deal if it's in your past but may be a big deal now. At the very least, schools know that your bargaining leverage is going to be reduced by this incident. It also suggests immaturity because most fighting is immature, and this situation was particularly immature because of what you had at stake - losing your cool over anything that happens at a minimum wage job suggests poor impulse control.

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Dcc617

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by Dcc617 » Fri Jan 11, 2019 1:03 pm

What's the paperwork for the firing say? Is there any? Did they explicitly say that's the sole reason you were fired? I wouldn't immediately jump to characterizing your firing in the worst possible light and then telling everyone about it.

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LSATWiz.com

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by LSATWiz.com » Fri Jan 11, 2019 2:30 pm

Dcc617 wrote:What's the paperwork for the firing say? Is there any? Did they explicitly say that's the sole reason you were fired? I wouldn't immediately jump to characterizing your firing in the worst possible light and then telling everyone about it.
Yeah, OP, I'd try to reach out to the company's in-house counsel and speak to them about your situation. (1) They're human and fellow attorneys mostly likely to empathize and (2) legally, they know it takes two to fight and I'm assuming the other guy did something to instigate you, particularly if they have a history. I think you should follow up about this with the company, because how they construe this will go a long way. If the termination were amended into something else, whether this has to be disclosed becomes a question for a C&F lawyer. Right now it's an obvious yes.

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ImBasicallyAFelon

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by ImBasicallyAFelon » Mon Jan 14, 2019 5:51 am

UBETutoring wrote:
Dcc617 wrote:What's the paperwork for the firing say? Is there any? Did they explicitly say that's the sole reason you were fired? I wouldn't immediately jump to characterizing your firing in the worst possible light and then telling everyone about it.
Yeah, OP, I'd try to reach out to the company's in-house counsel and speak to them about your situation. (1) They're human and fellow attorneys mostly likely to empathize and (2) legally, they know it takes two to fight and I'm assuming the other guy did something to instigate you, particularly if they have a history. I think you should follow up about this with the company, because how they construe this will go a long way. If the termination were amended into something else, whether this has to be disclosed becomes a question for a C&F lawyer. Right now it's an obvious yes.

Well actually I everything is super confidential. My firing letter just says I've been "discharged" and if anyone calls them all they're gonna say is when I worked there and how much I got paid. They have thousands of employees so it makes it easier for them to manage by having very.. uh, mathematical (??) approach. So like, any physical contact = fired, and any information is confidential.

I'm kinda writing the addendum for the sake of having, you know, integrity.

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by Npret » Mon Jan 14, 2019 1:40 pm

I don’t know the facts here but I’m against disclosing something that isn’t required for the sake of “integrity.” Just do what’s required.

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by albanach » Mon Jan 14, 2019 1:49 pm

Npret wrote:I don’t know the facts here but I’m against disclosing something that isn’t required for the sake of “integrity.” Just do what’s required.
I think most applications ask for employment history along with "reason for leaving". Given the continuing obligation to keep your application up to date, I think in many if not most cases an application update will be required.

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by LSATWiz.com » Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:44 pm

Again, no harm in reaching out to corporate. It can’t possibly hurt you at this point, and could help.

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Dcc617

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by Dcc617 » Mon Jan 14, 2019 11:26 pm

albanach wrote:
Npret wrote:I don’t know the facts here but I’m against disclosing something that isn’t required for the sake of “integrity.” Just do what’s required.
I think most applications ask for employment history along with "reason for leaving". Given the continuing obligation to keep your application up to date, I think in many if not most cases an application update will be required.
And your reason for leaving was “termination.” Why do you have to go into some whole story? There’s no proceedings or records, or even any confirmation that that’s really what happened. Your update can be something as simple as “on X date, I was terminated from my job at X.” Or send an updated resume or whatever. It’s been a while since I applied, and I can’t remember all the questions, but there may not be a need to make this some huge life altering deal.

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by nixy » Mon Jan 14, 2019 11:51 pm

I definitely had to list any jobs I'd been fired from and provide an explanation why.

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Re: Fired from my job, should I tell the law schools?

Post by albanach » Tue Jan 15, 2019 1:44 pm

nixy wrote:I definitely had to list any jobs I'd been fired from and provide an explanation why.
I'd be surprised if a school didn't want to know. If a candidate had been discharged for fraud, violence, sexual harassment or a whole host of other reasons, the school may well want to reconsider its offer. The school doesn't want to graduate students who might not be permitted to sit the bar, and is responsible for the safety and welfare of the rest of the class.

I can't see anyone accepting, without explanation, notice of a recent termination.

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