Never was there a tale of more woe than the candidate for the bar with $400,000 in student loans

Atfer four tries, Robert Bowman, 47,Â passed the New York bar exam.Â However, five judges refused to admit him to the bar because he had $400,000 in student loans and had not made a single payment.Â The judges concluded that Mr. Bowman did not meet the state’s “character and fitness requirements.”Â Mr. Bowman has had some tough breaks, literally and figuratively.Â Shuffled through foster care as a child, Mr. Bowman began his college years with a leg injury that required years of rehabilitation.Â But ten years after he began, Mr. BowmanÂ earned aÂ collegeÂ degree cobbled together with community college credits in between rehabilitation for the leg he nearly lost, SUNY Albany credits, and student loans.Â He went on to earn a law degree from UC Hastings College of Law, and a masters in tax from a LondonÂ university.Â Â The total student loan tab, including penalties for non-payment, is $400,000.Â

However, just after he pased the bar in February 2008,Â a Jet Ski hit him, breaking his good leg into four pieces.Â If it weren’t for bad luck . . .Â Mr. Bowman is lawyered up to challenge the state’s denial and says heÂ need to be able to practice lawÂ to payÂ back the $400K.Â Â Sallie Mae has a different take on his situation, maintaining that Mr. Bowman has been non-responsive.Â

No one sees the situation in the same way.Â There’s a mixture of sympathy, respect for Mr. Bowman’s dogged determination, and questions about a 30-year saga of degrees. The original panel of lawyers who reviewed his case found his pursuit of education remarkable and recommended that he be admitted to the bar.Â The court’s decision was a reversal of the review panel’s recommendation.Â

The Barometer would like more information.Â How was the borrowed money used?Â How much of what is due and owing is because of penalties for non-payment?Â Â What does non-payment over nearly 30 years say about character?Â Indeed, what statement about character is found in the sheer amount of the loans?Â Â Should Sallie Mae have cut off the faucet a tad sooner?Â Responsibility and accountability are elements of character — on both sides of a loan.Â And one more . . .Â neither a borrower nor a lender be?Â Â For loan oft loses both itself and friend as well as admission to the bar.Â

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