1. The Relationship Between Bar Admissions Data and Subsequent Lawyer Discipline
Leslie C. Levin, Christine Zozula and Peter Siegelman
University of Connecticut
Funded by the Law School Admissions Council

2. The Sample
Pool included all 6,159 lawyers admitted to the Connecticut bar from 1989 – 1992
Identified 152 lawyers in that pool who had been disciplined in Connecticut or out-of-state between the time of admission and 2010
Drew a random sample of 1267 never disciplined lawyers
Final sample size for regression analysis was 1343

3. Some numbers
Connecticut only denies admission to 1.5 applicants per year
3 additional applicants withdrew during the hearing process in , but they were all able to practice in another jurisdiction
2.5% of lawyers admitted from were disciplined

4. The disciplined lawyers
Average time from admission to first grievance that led to discipline was years.
Most of the disciplined lawyers were working in solo or small (2-3 lawyer) law firms.
Most (72%) were disciplined only once
38% of all disciplined lawyers at some point received severe discipline

5. Some factors that correlated with discipline t-tests
Being male (p<.001)
Graduating from 4th tier law school (p<.001)
Low class rank and low grades (p.<.001 )
Delinquent credit account (p<.001)
Higher student loan debt (p<.001)
Moving traffic violations (p<.001)
Drivers license suspension (p<.01)
Involvement in civil litigation other than divorce (p<.01)

6. Less Severely Disciplined vs. Severely Disciplined Lawyers
Less severely disciplined lawyers did less well academically than severely disciplined lawyers
Less severely disciplined lawyers revealed more credit problems on bar application than severely disciplined lawyers
Less severely disciplined lawyers more likely to reveal mental health issues on bar application

7. Regression analysis Male Attending a 4th tier law school
Law school grade point average
Number of moving traffic violations
Amount of student loan debt
Mental health

8. Actual % effect of factors
Being a male increases likelihood of discipline by 2.5%
History of mental health problems or treatment increases likelihood of discipline by 3.5%
But overall rate of discipline is so small that someone with history of a mental health problem only has a 5.5% chance of discipline

9. Caveat on mental health findings
Only 29 lawyers in the entire sample revealed mental health problems on application
6 lawyers who were disciplined revealed a history of mental health problems on their bar applications.
5 out of 6 were not disciplined until they had been practicing more than 10 years
5 of the 6 who were subsequently disciplined only received a single reprimand.

10. Other Limitations
Only looked at lawyers in their first years of practice
Could not determine their race, ethnicity or socio-economic background
May have missed some private discipline
Connecticut bar could be unusual (commuter state)
No way to assess how truthfully applicants answered certain questions on application (e.g., academic misconduct, mental health, etc.)