How to apply for the Bar in Missouri

Well it has started. I’ve begun the process of applying for admission to the Missouri bar. If anyone is wondering who is checking up on lawyers in Missouri, I can assure you that the Missouri Board of Law Examiners is quite thorough. This is the bureaucratic equivalent of a body cavity search…if there is paperwork out there about me, they are going the lay their finger on it.

Here are some of the things I have to pay for:

1. Pay $800 to file my application
   
2. Pay $20 for certificates of good standing from Texas
   
3. Pay $?? for a certified copy of my driving record
   
4. Pay $20 for a certified copy of my birth certificate
   
5. Pay ~$20 for a certified transcript of lawschool
   
6. Maybe more fees.
   
   I also have to:
   
   
7. Provide 10+ different references
   
8. List every place I’ve lived since I was 18 (you try it, it is harder than you might think).
   
9. List every job I’ve had and every period of unemployment for ten years
   
10. Certify in several different ways that I am not a drunk or a drug addict
    
11. Certify that I have never had a mental illness
    
12. Get fingerprinted
    
13. Certify lots more stuff.
    
    I don’t fault them for it, but this is a pain in the ass.