Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh walks along the hallways of the Russell Senate Office Building on his way to a meeting with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, on July 11.
Character and fitness. Those words are enough to make any law student quiver in her boots. Why? Because obtaining a license to practice law isn’t just about graduating from law school. It isn’t just about passing a ridiculously hard two- or three-day test. It’s also about demonstrating to the bar officials in your state that you have the “character and fitness” to practice law.
In fact, on the bar application of every state, applicants are required to list references who can attest to their character and fitness. Once those references are supplied, bar officials reportedly then ask them for additional names that weren’t offered by the applicant. In lots of states, applicants are fingerprinted, their criminal and academic histories are scrutinized and even their therapists’ records are subject to perusal.
