The New York Court of Appeals recently announced that it was modifying its application questionnaire for admission to the NY bar, and removing the question that asked: "Do you currently have any condition or impairment including, but not limited to a mental, emotional, psychiatric, nervous or behavioral disorder or condition, or an alcohol, drug or other substance abuse condition or impairment or gambling addiction, which in any way impairs or limits your ability to practice law?"

In its place, the application form will henceforth inquire into the past conduct of the applicant, by asking: "Within the past seven years, have you asserted any condition or impairment as a defense, in mitigation, or as an explanation for your conduct in the course of any inquiry, any investigation, or any administrative or judicial proceeding by an educational institution, government agency, professional organization, or licensing authority; or in connection with an employment disciplinary or termination procedure?"

We applaud this action by New York. The prior inquiry on the bar application into whether a student is, or has been, a mental health consumer had an obvious deterrent effect on law students getting the professional help that they needed. We think that anyone in the legal profession who has the good sense to seek treatment for mental health issues, and who thus may have been diagnosed with a "condition or impairment," should be praised for the prudence in doing so, and should not be placed under the additional stress of worrying whether seeking treatment would adversely affect their chances of being admitted to the bar.

Gathering information on an applicant's general mental health status simply invites unhelpful speculation, and encourages the propagation of stereotypes about those who seek mental health treatment. New York's new focus on the conduct that may have resulted from any such condition is more than sufficient to allow the appropriate character committees to assess whether the applicant will be a fit and competent lawyer.

The current question of New Jersey's bar application form is similar to the question that New York has now discarded: "Do you CURRENTLY have any condition or impairment (including but not limited to substance abuse, alcohol abuse, or a mental, emotional or nervous disorder or condition) that in any way affects your ability to practice law in a competent, ethical and professional manner and in compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct, the Rules of Court, and applicable case law?"

We appreciate that the current wording makes an attempt to limit the inquiry within some temporal and subject matter bounds. But like the old New York question, New Jersey currently imposes the burden on the applicant to decide whether a mental health condition "affects your ability to practice law," a judgment that a law student is hardly in a position to make, and which tempts the student to avoid creating a record that might used later.

The Conference of Chief Justices, the ABA, and numerous other professional and advocacy organizations, have all adopted public positions calling for the removal of questions on bar applications inquiring into mental health diagnoses and treatment. We respectfully urge our Supreme Court to join in this movement and make suitable changes to New Jersey's bar application.