Got this one from a tipster and found it quite funny:
Kelly F. Fulmer, a Kentucky resident from a prominent family, posed as an attorney for years. No one questioned his credentials as he defended a DUI and probated numerous estates, many of whom are still open. He even had a Michigan Law School diploma on the wall. Truth is that he attended, and didn't graduate, from Tom M. Cooley School of Law. Ha. You'd think he'd at least claim that he graduated from a school he attended. I guess Tom Cooley is an embarrassment for non-attorneys as well. It is a misdemeanor to practice law without a license in Kentucky, and he could also face charges of felony theft by deception.
Go Cooley!
Thanks Tipser!
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16 hours ago
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I actually do't find it hard to believe that he "fooled" people into thinking he was a licensed attorney.
ReplyDeleteLaw school doesn't teach you how to do ANYTHNG. Ergo, his stepping out and winging it would match the attempts of countless recent grads prior to him groping around trying to figure out how to file something. No attention would be attracted to him, of course, as "real" law grads don't know how to do anything either, unlike in REAL professions, i.e., medicine, dentistry, osteopathy, etc., where they teach you how to dril and fill, suture someone up, etc. etc......
Nah, not hard to believe his successful mimicry at all.
1 is right. I went to a top law school and they taught very little about practicing law. The irony is the higher ranked the law school, the less practical skills they teach. I opened my own practice and the learning curve was steep. You are on your own with no supervision. You are allowed to do anything. Can you imagine a dentist being told about the purpose of tooth or gender and the tooth, and then having to figure out alone how to do a root canal? Most attorneys I know committed malpractice, often on a regular basis, sometimes shockingly so. Forgot to put a certificate of service on a motion, oops. Don't know how to reconcile a trust account, oops. Failed to not follow a rule of civil procedure, oops. Fail to file some required document, oops. Don't know how to introduce evidence in court, oops. Don't know all the remedies available to your client, oops. Sometimes it is funny, but being solo is a cold cruel world and you have to put food on the table with this p.o.s law degree. Fake it till you make is common. Clients usually do not know if you don't know what you are doing, especially if they are from an immigrant community. Just wear a nice suit, have a fancy desk, bookshelf, and they will think you are big time even if you barely got into the worst law school in the country. Law school teaches you how to teach law school, that is about all. The Bar Exam has no redeeming qualities except to be a burdensome hazing ritual.
ReplyDeleteThe school truly is an embarrassment.
ReplyDeleteYour readers can also check out TTR's Beat the Living Snot Out of Thomas Jefferson Sewer of Law Thursday.
This is the 12th unlicensed lawyer case I read in the passed 5 years. Granted, lawyers don't learn shit about how to practice in LAw school. I think that is the main reasons it is so easy to fake it. I learned my area of law by reading the practice manual! I was afraid my first time out, still am. Also, to quote the fake paralawyer, from the movie "the rainmaker,""there is just so many lawyers out there the court can't keep up." I know the Court files record lawfirm first, because multiple lawyers work on a case.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the reason he wasn't caught sooner is that he was competent. In that case, did Cooley really do such a bad job?
ReplyDelete