An Update on Loren Friedman, the U. Chicago Transcript Tinkerer

Loren Friedman earned Lawyer of the Day honors here back in 2008, when the then-Curtis Mallet associate was busted for doctoring his law school grades from the University of Chicago, by changing Cs into Bs and As.

Almost two years after the ethics complaint against Friedman was filed, the Illinois Review Board has rendered its verdict.

(We’re a little late in bringing you the news; the Legal Profession Blog noted the judgment last week.)

Good news for the unethical. Fudging your grades will get you gigs at Skadden Arps and Sidley Austin, but won’t get you disbarred. At least not in Illinois. Instead, the Board proposed an 18-month suspension, reduced from the three year sentence previously recommended.

UPDATE / CLARIFICATION: As noted by a commenter, Friedman won’t automatically be reinstated after 18 months. Rather, because the suspension is 18 months “and until further order of the court” (UFO), he will have to “satisfy his obligation of establishing his character and fitness before resuming practice.”

No big deal. Friedman has other things to occupy his time these days….

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Before turning to law, Friedman had failed out of medical school, another thing he neglected to mention in his law firm applications. Law Shucks has a refresher on how Friedman got caught:

[Friedman] summered at Sidley, then clerked, then went to Skadden and ended up at Curtis Mallet-Prevost & Mosle in New York. He decided he wanted to get back to Illinois so he had a headhunter send around his materials. Stupidly, he sends around a real transcript. Not surprisingly, it ends up back at Sidley where partner Michael Sweeney wondered how this guy with this awful transcript had been accepted to his firm’s summer program five years earlier. Sweeney confronts Friedman, who apologizes and agrees to turn himself in.

While the ethics investigation played out, Friedman decided to do something productive (assuming you consider the pursuit of an MBA to be worthwhile). According to Law Shucks:

He’s attending the University of Illinois business school — yes, that’s the same place that kicked him out of the medical school.

Hopefully he’s earning real As and Bs this time around.

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In re Loren Elliotte Friedman [Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission]
“Reprehensible” But Not Disbarable [Legal Profession Blog]
Flunked out of Med School, Disbarred, What Next? [Law Shucks]
Transcript-Doctoring Former Chicago Student Cleared to Practice [WSJ Law Blog]
Former Sidley, Skadden Lawyer Has Suspension Cut in Half [Am Law Daily]
Catching Up With Med School Drop-Out/Suspended Lawyer/B-School Student Loren Friedman [Law Shucks]
Earlier: Lawyer of the Day: Loren Elliotte Friedman