And finally… fake lawyer was about to be made partner

Kimberly Kitchen, 45, from Pennsylvania is said to have duped legal firm BMZ Law by forging exam results and a law license as well as an email showing she graduated from Duquesne University’s law school and a cheque for registration fees as a state attorney.

Despite never having been to law school Ms Kitchen dealt with over 30 clients’ estates, the attorney general of Pennsylvania said in a statement.

Her own attorney, Caroline Roberto, said: “She’s an incredibly competent person and she worked very diligently and was devoted to the people she served in the community.

“There are things about the charges we don’t agree with so we’re going to be fighting some of the charges.”

The current president of Ms Kitchen’s county bar association, of which she was a former president, said the charges are not severe enough.

He said: “For a decade of that kind of behavior, those kind of charges are insufficient and don’t represent the depth or level of betrayal that was shown.”

The charge of forgery is a first-degree misdemeanor which carries up to five years in prison while the charge of unauthorised practice is a third-degree misdemeanour and carries up to a year in jail.