Disbarment Sought for Lawyer Who Inflated Law School Grades

The chief counsel for the Illinois agency that oversees lawyer discipline says a lawyer who altered his law school transcripts to get a summer associate position at Sidley Austin deserves to be disbarred, and he will appeal a recommendation for a lesser punishment.

A hearing panel last week recommended only a three-year suspension for Loren Friedman, who whited out his C grades at the University of Chicago Law School and changed them to Bs before submitting them to Sidley. A Sidley partner discovered the discrepancy after he saw a copy of Friedman’s actual grades when a legal recruiter circulated his resumé five years later.

James Grogan, chief counsel to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, told the Chicago Tribune that ARDC commission administrator Jerome Larkin will ask a review board for the harsher punishment.

Updated at 6:30 a.m. on April 29, 2009, to include a link to the hearing board report.