Not A Doctor, Now A Suspended Lawyer

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has imposed a two-year suspension of an attorney who engaged in false representations concerning her supposed medical education.

The attorney began working for a New York firm as a part-time paralegal and medical consultant. She had four semesters toward a Ph.D. in pathology and had worked as a morgue technician.

She told the firm that she had graduated from College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. She had not. In reliance, the firm encouraged her to attend law school, paid 75% of her law school tuition, hired her as an associate and held her out as a top 1% Columbia med school graduate.

She was promoted to partner but eventually left the firm. After departure, she brought the information about the false medical degree to the firm’s attention.

Boston.com named her a Beautiful Massachusetts Lawyer of 2009. (Mike Frisch)