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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Life Imitates Suits

I couldn't resist sharing this headline with you after I said how much I enjoyed the show Suits. Just in case you thought it was unrealistic that someone could pass himself off as a lawyer at a big firm, here's one who did just that. Apparently a guy worked for the firm Clausen Miller in New Jersey for two years before they realized he was a phony.

His firm bio said, "Before entering practice, [the phony] was law clerk to multiple judges of the Superior Court of New Jersey, including the presiding civil judge of Union County." The website went on to say he graduated cum laude from Siena College in 1997 and Seton Hall University School of Law in 2000, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 2000 and the New York bar in 2001. It's looking more and more likely that none of these statements were true.

The potential consequences are an 18 month prison sentence and a $10,000 fine. To the firm, they have to notify the judges, clients and opposing counsel and face loads of malpractice suits. Opposing counsel, I'm sure, will be particularly understanding and not openly laugh at them at all.

So, life imitates art. Gotta love it.