Candor And Fitness
The Ohio Supreme Court accepted a recommendation of its Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness to deny a bar applicant permission to sit, with the possibility of allowing him to do so in February 2016.
Steinhelfer began attending the Chicago-Kent College of Law in Chicago, Illinois, in 2007 and filed his application to register as a candidate for admission to the Ohio bar in August 2010. In May 2011, the admissions committee of the Logan County Bar Association conducted a character-and fitness interview. Because the committee was later informed that Steinhelfer did not intend to take the bar examination, it did not create a report of its character and- fitness investigation. Nonetheless, the committee had concerns about issues disclosed in Steinhelfer’s application and interview, including a prior arrest, credit-card debt, and uncertainty regarding his law-school graduation. Steinhelfer told the interviewers that he had not yet graduated because of a disagreement with a professor. Steinhelfer failed to mention, however, that he left Chicago-Kent College of Law in May 2010—a full year before the interview—and that he had not graduated because he failed to complete requirements in three courses, not simply because of a dispute with one professor.
After leaving law school in May 2010, Steinhelfer returned to Ohio, his state of residence. In June 2011, he was charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to control his vehicle, and other offenses after hitting another car. In an agreement with the prosecutor, he pled no contest to reckless operation, a fourth-degree misdemeanor. He was also sued in two cases relating to credit-card debt that he had accrued during law school, and he was terminated from an employment position. In May 2012, he was hospitalized and diagnosed with alcohol dependency and a severe mental disorder. He later commenced treatment for both conditions, including taking medication, attending counseling, attending a 12-step program, and abstaining from alcohol. By December 2012, he had completed his outstanding course work and graduated from Chicago-Kent.
A panel expressed concerns about the applicant’s candor which were echoed by the board
the board questions whether sufficient treatment time has elapsed since stabilization of Steinhelfer’s mental disorder. The board concludes, however, that it is unnecessary to answer that question because the “more serious concern is his lack of candor and his failure to make full disclosure on several issues” throughout the application process. Specifically, the board found that Steinhelfer (1) failed to explain his law-school status at hisfirst character-and-fitness interview, (2) failed to previously disclose his termination from a judicial campaign for inappropriate behavior, (3) failed to previously disclose that he had been receiving disability benefits, and (4) failed to submit all of the documents that had been requested by the panel. The board also finds that his “willful non-compliance” with his OLAP contract demonstrates a “current lack of character.”
A full fitness review will occur if the applicant pursues admission. (Mike Frisch)