Authorities: Woman Pretended to Be Lawyer for a Decade, Made Partner

A Pennsylvania woman took "Fake it til you make it" to the next level.

In a story that seems too bizarre to be true, a woman was able to convincingly portray a lawyer for so long that she actually made partner at her firm.

A woman used forged documents to pose as an estate lawyer for a decade and made partner at her small firm before her fraud was discovered, according to charges announced Friday.

Kimberly Kitchen was charged Thursday with forgery, unauthorized practice of law and felony records tampering.

State prosecutors contend Kitchen fooled BMZ Law by forging a law license, bar exam results, an email showing she attended Duquesne University law school and a check for a state attorney registration fee. The firm is based in Huntingdon, about 110 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Kitchen, of nearby James Creek, handled estate planning for more than 30 clients "despite never having attended law school," the attorney general's office said. She even served as president of her county bar, her lawyer said.

 

 

This seems like an extraordinary amount of work. Perhaps, had she applied this level of effort, research, and determination to, y'know, actual law school studies, she would not be in this situation. The sheer anxiety of waiting to get caught seems overwhelming to me.

That being said, I kind of admire her ability to not only have the guts to do this, but also to keep it going and to independently know enough about law to fool other lawyers. I look forward to her next move, maybe as a pretend doctor or physicist.