Opinion
No. C.F. 88-1
Submitted March 8, 1989 —
Decided May 10, 1989.
Attorneys at law — Applications for permission to register as candidate to take bar examination — Applications denied, when.
ON REPORT by the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness, No. 27.
In 1985, Richard W. McGraw applied for permission to register as a candidate for admission to the practice of law and to take the bar examination. Since he then listed his address as Columbus, the Admissions Committee of the Columbus Bar Association conducted an investigation of his character and fitness. The committee made an unfavorable recommendation and McGraw appealed. Delays ensued because he had moved out of the state. Nevertheless, a hearing was ultimately held before a three-member panel of the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness on January 21, 1988.
On April 15, 1988, the panel recommended that the application to certify McGraw's good character and general fitness be denied. The recommendation stemmed from McGraw's failure to list certain criminal convictions on his original applications for registration and examination, his use of two different addresses on one of the applications, his involvement in the "handling" of his grandfather's estate, his arrest for an offense during the pendency of the appeal, and his perceived unwillingness to accept responsibility for all this conduct. The board concurred in the panel's recommendation.
Rees Davis, for applicant.
O. Nadine Van Dyke, for the Columbus Bar Association.
This court has reviewed the record and concurs in the report of the board. The applicant's applications for registration and examination are disapproved. He may reapply after one year from the date of this order.
Order accordingly.
MOYER, C.J., SWEENEY, HOLMES, DOUGLAS, WRIGHT, H. BROWN and RESNICK, JJ., concur.