The Georgia Supreme Court has refused two law graduates to take the state bar exam as they did not fully disclose their criminal histories on their law school applications. The news was first reported by the Fulton County Daily Report and highlighted on ABA Journal.
At least the first case, that of Roy Yunker Jr., does seem deserving leniency as Yunker, a veteran of operation Desert Storm, had also graduated tenth in his class from John Marshall Law School in 2008, and since then he has been clerking for two superior court judges.
Yunker had three misdemeanors on his record related to drunk driving, disorderly conduct and damage to property, and domestic battery. When asked on his law school application whether he had ever been charged or convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic offense, Yunker did not bring up the misdemeanor convictions. He also failed to disclose all of them when he applied for the bar examination. The Supreme Court opinion denying Yunker his right to sit for the bar exam also noted that he had been fired from an internship due to a conflict with a supervising attorney.
While Yunker is now in his 40s, the other law graduate, John Payne, is now 57 years old, and though he disclosed all of his criminal history to the state bar, it was found that he omitted to do so in his application to Southern Illinois University.
Payne had six DUI convictions from his youth to his mid-40s. A recovering alcoholic with a bipolar disorder, Payne has participated in 12-step programs for more than 20 years and his last DUI conviction happened 16 years ago. The Supreme Court opinion against Payne noted that he answered to the negative when asked whether he had any condition which, if left untreated, could affect his ability to practice law.
