1. Fall Admission (Aug Start): Weeknight Classes (Mon - Thur) or Weekend Classes (Sat)
2. Spring Admission (Jan Start): Weeknight Classes (Mon - Thur) or Weekend Classes (Sat)
NOTICE: If you are not a U.S. citizen, you must submit certified copies of your U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services documents certifying your legal residency status in order to attend Birmingham School of Law (BSL). BSL is not authorized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to issue student visas or assist you in obtaining a student visa or other permanent residency status.
13. List all colleges, universities, graduate schools or programs, and technical/professional schools you have attended. Please use the "Addendum" section if additional space is needed.
The LSAT is not required for most applicants to BSL. However, if your undergraduate grade point average (GPA) is below 2.75 you may find it beneficial to take the LSAT and participate in the Law School Admission Council's Credential Assembly Service (CAS). Members of BSL's Admissions Committee use submitted test results to estimate your predicted performance in law school and judge whether or not you should be admitted as a regular student or admitted in a probationary status. NOTICE: If your undergraduate baccalaureate degree was earned from a college or university foreign to the United States you must participate in the LSAT and CAS. Please see www.lsac.org for more information concerning the LSAT and CAS programs, test dates, and required fees.
24. Please provide a personal statement of no more than approximately 600 words (not to exceed two type-written pages) that includes information you wish the BSL Admissions Committee to consider when reviewing your application. Your statement may include the reasons you wish to study law, why you wish to attend BSL, or other topics of interest to you.
25. Letters of recommendation are not required but may be helpful to the Admissions Committee in evaluating your application. The best letters come from those that know you best, such as employers, teachers, or clergy, and provide sufficient detail for the Admissions Committee to form an opinion as to your analytical abilities and personal character. Letters from political office holders are often not particularly helpful or informative unless the office holder actually has a close personal relationship with you. Letters from family members/relatives should not be solicited. You may submit no more than two such letters. All letters should be sent directly by the writer to: Birmingham School of Law, Office of the Registrar, 231 22nd Street South, Birmingham, AL 35233.
In addition to the normal academic screening law school applicants must endure, there are character and fitness qualifications for admission to law school and the various state bar associations in every U.S. jurisdiction. Law schools and state bar associations will ask questions similar to the questions below in assessing your character and fitness to attend law school and/or practice law. While there is no "correct" answer to these questions, you should err on the side of full and candid disclosure. Failure to fully disclose the information requested may result in adverse action by BSL or the Alabama State Bar Association (ASB). The act of concealment or the withholding of information is oftentimes more critical to your evaluation as a potential law student or lawyer than the act or event itself.
If you answer "Yes" to any question below you must submit an additional statement in writing providing complete details including the dates, location or jurisdiction of the event, and the final resolution or the current status for any ongoing issue. YOU HAVE A CONTINUING DUTY TO DISCLOSE and the obligation to disclose the requested information below continues throughout your law school matriculation through the awarding of your diploma. If, following completion of your application or admission to BSL, circumstances arise that would require you to answer "Yes" to any of these question, you must submit a written amendment to this application as soon as possible. Any required amendments should err on the side of speed of the disclosure of the basic facts and should not be withheld until the matter is fully resolved or adjudicated in any court hearing/trial or administrative hearing. The best approach is to disclose the requested information as soon as possible after the event occurrence or after discovery of the information related to any question below and then supplement the amendment with a second or third amendment as necessary as additional information becomes known.
NOTE: No statute (including Alabama’s new expungement law); no court order or legal proceeding removing or sealing any information from any record; no court order dismissing, vacating or setting aside any arrest, accusation, or conviction; and no purported authority authorizing any person to deny the existence of any matter related to the questions below shall excuse you from providing less than full disclosure.
26. Concerning criminal offenses or situations, have you ever, either as a juvenile or an adult, been served with a criminal summons, questioned, arrested, taken into custody, indicted by a grand jury, charged with, placed on trial (jury or non-jury), pleaded guilty to or been convicted of, or been the subject of an investigation involving the violation of any law? Yes No
If your answer is "Yes", please provide your detailed response on the "Addendum" section and, if you were the named defendant, submit certified copies of all court orders/final dispositions in any case.
27. Concerning civil matters or cases, have you ever, either as a juvenile or an adult, been a named party to any civil lawsuit or civil administrative court case (i.e., divorce or child support/custody, automobile mishaps, landlord/tenant disputes, breach of contract, etc.)? Please DO NOT include cases where you participated merely as a witness. Yes No
If your answer is "Yes", please provide your detailed response for each and every case or action on the "Addendum" section.
28. Concerning school or academic matters, have you ever, either as a juvenile or an adult, been placed on academic or personal conduct probation, suspension, or expulsion while attending any school or educational training program (public or private)? Yes No
If your answer is "Yes", please provide your detailed response on the "Addendum" section.
29. Concerning employment or volunteer work activities, have you ever, either as a juvenile or an adult, been placed on probation, suspension, or terminated by your employer or volunteer organization for any reason? Yes No
Acknowledgment: By my signature below, I acknowledge that successful admission to BSL, and the awarding of the Juris Doctor degree by BSL, does not grant automatic admission to the Alabama State Bar and that I must comply with the admission standards of the ASB, in effect at the time of my application to the ASB, in order to practice law in Alabama.
Certification: By my signature below, I certify that the information I have provided in this application and all supporting documents is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I understand that giving false or misleading information may result in revocation of any offer of admission or other disciplinary action by BSL or the ASB. I give explicit permission to BSL, and it’s agents, to conduct criminal background checks or other inquiries to confirm the information provided by me to questions 25 through 28 or to verify the information contained in my Personal Statement or letters or recommendation. I agree to cooperate with BSL in performing any such inquiries or requests for additional or supplemental information and I will immediately notify BSL, in writing, of any change to the information contained in this application or supporting documents. I agree to continue to supplement the information contained in this application or supporting documents through to graduation regardless of whether the event occurred before admission was approved or after class attendance begins.
