Fake Associate Gets Probation After Repaying Firm $150K in Salary

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Fake Associate Gets Probation After Repaying Firm $150K in Salary

Posted Jan 30, 2008, 04:23 pm CST
By Molly McDonough

A paralegal who posed as an associate at Anderson Kill & Olick, collecting more than $200,000 in pay, was sentenced to probation.

Brian Valery, 33, of Massapequa, had pleaded guilty to grand larceny in October, but received a light sentence because he's already repaid $150,000 to the Manhattan firm, Newsday reports.

Valery falsely claimed he earned a law degree from Fordham University Law School and passed the bar.

Valery owes the firm another $75,000.

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Posted by Alice - 9 months, 2 weeks, 17 hours, 38 minutes ago

Seems strange that non-attorneys can get hired as an attorney by any firm. This happened to one of the big lawfirms in Minneapolis which shall remain nameless, except to hint that one of the two names in the firm name has been changed to “Witless” by some people when referring to their SNAFU. Is it so hard to check to see if someone actually has a law degree and is a member of the bar? I’m a legal secretary and could probably do it in a small portion of my workday.

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