No room at the bar

No room at the barNo room at the barIf endurance were the measure of ones fitness to practice law, then Robert Bowman would seem to be a solid candidate for the bar. As The New York Times recounts, all Bowman ever wanted to be was a lawyer, and it seems hes spent a good part of his life trying to do just thatovercoming a difficult childhood, ten years of college, four years of law school, two debilitating accidents and three unsuccessful attempts to pass the New York State bar exam. Having finally passed on his fourth try, Bowman was interviewed and recommended for admission to the bar by the Committee on Character and Fitnessonly to be deemed unfit by a panel of appellate judges based on the size of his student loan debt.To be fair, the judges decision was leid based solely on the extent of Bowmans debt (some $430,000, including penalties), but also on the fact that, over the last two decades, hes not made a single payment to reduce it.Nevertheless, as Elie Mystal observes in an ATL post Bowman has racked up all of this debt in order to become an attorney how does he have any chance of paying back the money if he is not allowed to become an attorney? Apparently thats not the courts concern.One might question the judgment of someone whos so determined to become a lawyer that he sits through the bar exam four times and racks up hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, but is that really a fair, or consistent, way to measure a persons character and general fitness requisite for an attorney and counselor-at-law? After all, as the Times notes, New Yorks courts have overlooked misconduct like lawyers solicitation of minors for sex, efforts to deceive judges and possession of cocaine. Those instances have led merely to temporary suspensions from practice.Why not give Bowman the same shot to be a bad lawyer?- posted by vera