The bar exam tests your knowledge, but the Character and Fitness process tests your entire life.
Your past, your choices, and your future are placed under scrutiny. The process can leave you feeling exposed, judged, and alone. I created Surviving Character and Fitness to give you the support I once needed. This is where you prepare with clarity, push forward, and prove to yourself that you belong. It is time to stop doubting and start preparing to win your seat at the table.
About Surviving Character and Fitness
Most people think becoming a lawyer ends with the bar exam. The real wall appears when you start the Character and Fitness application. The form is not neutral. It demands every debt, eviction, civil judgment, arrest, and lapse, with dates, outcomes, and proof. It tests truth, consistency, and completeness. Leave a gap and it will be questioned. Be vague and it will be held against you. I too was asked about my criminal record. I was questioned about old civil judgments and unpaid debt. I was asked about evictions. I was pressed about being criminally charged while in law school, at the very moment when Character and Fitness was approaching. They went through choices I made in desperation, failures I thought were behind me, and parts of my life I never imagined would be dragged out and picked apart. “Have you ever been arrested?” “Have you ever defaulted on a loan or failed to pay a judgment?” “Why should we believe this will not happen again?” I know what it is to have your worst mistakes and lowest moments placed under a spotlight while a panel decides if you deserve to call yourself a lawyer. I know the dread of waiting months and months for a decision, only to be met with silence. I know the fear of wondering if everything you’ve worked so hard for is about to be ripped away because of the past you cannot change. The application is the hearing on paper. And I went through it in four different states. I learned what moves a file and what stalls it. I know what boards focus on and what kind of proof earns trust. I can show you how to state hard facts without apology and how to present growth in a way that earns respect. I can show you what to disclose, what to document, what to say, and when to stop talking. This is the help I wish I had. That is the reason Surviving Character and Fitness exists. I built it so no one else has to walk into that room blindsided. Here, you will know what to expect, how to prepare, and how to stand firm when it matters most. I have lived through the questions. I have endured the silence. I have carried the shame of hearing my failures recited back to me as if they were proof I did not belong. But I also know what it takes to survive it. And I am here to help you do the same.
MARLA MATRICE MURPHY
Services
Please Note: All services are fee-based. Rates will be discussed during scheduling.
Comprehensive Application Review
A thorough review of your entire application to ensure it is consistent, complete, and ready for submission.
Application Strengthening
Hands-on help to make your application as strong as possible. I identify what is missing, what needs clarification, and how to present your information so it reflects growth and readiness.
Document Review and Guidance
Help identifying which documents you will need to submit, where to request them, and how to organize them. I provide feedback to ensure the materials are complete, consistent, and responsive to the board’s requirements.
Narrative and Addendum Editing
Support with drafting and refining the written statements that explain your past, show accountability, and highlight your progress.
One-on-One Consulting
Personalized sessions held over Zoom, focused on your situation, with support from someone who has been through the Character and Fitness process in multiple states.
Under Review
Coming soon. Available on Amazon.
My story is not clean or simple. It is marked by choices made in desperation, failures I thought were behind me, and battles I never imagined I would have to fight. It is about loss and survival, about love and betrayal, about the weight of judgment and the fight to rise above it.
A story of survival, judgment, and determination. Under Review takes readers inside some of the hardest chapters of my life, from courtrooms to closed doors, from public mistakes to private heartbreaks. It is the story of being overlooked, unheard, abused, accused, doubted, and the fight to keep moving forward.
This is not just a memoir. It is a testament to survival and the will to keep moving forward when everything is stacked against you.
