April Fools? (Unfortunately, Not So)

When I ask real or prospective law students what television programs they watch, I often get two answers:  “The Big Bang” or “Suits.”  I have to admit I love to use Big Bang’s “roommate contract” for my contracts class examples.  But, Suits is a bit more problematic — until now.

The key character in Suits is “Mike Ross,” a college dropout, and the back story is that he’s brilliant, with a superb memory, and stumbled into being a “lawyer” after a life of petty crime that somehow included taking the LSAT exam for others.  I would like to think that the appeal of the program is the law, but I am realistic enough to suspect the “charm” is the idea that you can succeed in law without knowing the law, indeed without being a “real” lawyer. A little fantasy, right?

Now we have a report — and I wish this wasn’t true — from my own state of Pennsylvania, of a 45-year-old woman who allegedly posed for 10 years as an estate planning lawyer, even making partner in a law firm, who may have faked her attendance at a specific law school.  In fact, she may have faked everything that should have happened afterward, such as being licensed to practice law.  

According to news reports, the individual has been charged with crimes.  To follow her defense, and the developing details, see here, here, and here.