A partner at a US firm has been accused of pretending to be a lawyer for ten years.

Kimberly Kitchen worked as a college fundraiser when she started holding herself out as a lawyer. She was so convincing she got a job with BMZ Law, a US firm near Pittsburgh. During her ten year career as an estate-planning lawyer she was made up to the BMZ partnership and served as president of the local bar association. The firm even believed her when she said she taught trust and tax law at Columbia Unviersity in her spare time, and slapped it on her profile.

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But local lawyers raised concerns about Kitchen, presumably after noticing that her law licence was burnt at the edges in a childish attempt to make it look old. Prosecutors allege that Kitchen also forged her bar exam results and an email saying that she definitely attended a real law school. She has been charged with forgery, unauthorised practice of law and records tampering.

The current local bar president, who is possibly a bin man in fancy dress, accused Kitchen of "betrayal", while her firm claims its lawyers were "the last in a long line of professionals" fooled by her commanding tone and tea-stained certificate.
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Roll On Friday 10 April 15 04:47

This is more common than you might realise. At my old (Magic Circle) firm we caught two "lawyers" who weren't. One of them was only found out when she was put up for partnership and asked for a copy of her practising certificate. She had been at the firm for years.

Unsurprisingly, both of them were booted out in fairly short order - but it was kept very, very quiet...