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06/03/08
Well, here's a tip: whatever you do, don't do what Loren Friedman did. He looked at his grades and decided that they weren't, well…accurate. In fact, they were so inaccurate that he changed those grades on his transcript — for 20 classes. Now, it's not clear why he really thought he needed to change the grades; he went to the University of Chicago Law School.
In any case, Friedman altered his grades and promptly submitted them to the firm Sidley Austin for his summer work. He worked there during the summer of 2002, and Sidley Austin gave him an offer, which he turned down. He then went to the firm Curtis Mallet-Prevost (on the basis of his good summer at Sidley Austin) and worked there from 2003 until earlier this year, when Sidley Austin apparently discovered the fraud and complained to the Illinois bar.
Turns out that Friedman has a history of displaying a not-so-stellar memory: he forgot to reveal he flunked out of medical school on his application to law school. He also forgot to mention he changed his transcripts on his bar application. That's just something that slips the mind naturally, of course.
The bar complaint was filed on May 6, 2008, so Friedman has gotten away with it for several years. But eventually, to quote someone else from Illinois, his chickens came home to roost, as he has resigned from his firm.
Most firms don't actually check the accuracy of transcripts, though maybe they will. Still, don't try this one at home, young law students. Once caught, you'll never work in law again.
Law school deans, though, are left to ponder how a student with clearly inferior grades managed to do so well for six years as an associate. That doesn't reflect well on the value of a legal education, now, does it?
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