UPDATE: Literally minutes after I posted this, I saw reports that she is “transitioning” out of the White House Press Secretary role. Good.]
***
There’s no excuse for this.
The new details on the latest White House paid liar’s misrepresentation of herself as a “lawyer” or “attorney” make her (and the decision to appoint her) appear worse and worse; she’s either a fraud or an idiot. In either case, she has lost all credibility. A paid liar must have credibility, as strange as that sounds.
Katie Zacharia confirmed yesterday that she had never passed a bar exam or and has never been an “attorney.”Then she claimed that she had not misrepresented her legal career by saying she “is” a lawyer. As I have explained already, she’s not. If many members of the public—you know, morons—think that a JD or LLB degree means one is a lawyer, that doesn’t excuse the holder of a law degree thinking or saying that. “Lawyer” means one can act as a lawyer—Duh!—and a mere law school graduate cannot. It is against the law for such a person to practice law, which is what lawyers do—again duh.
In interviews with The New York Times and Real America’s Voice, Zacharia said she had consulted Pepperdine’s president and “others” about how to describe her qualifications before appearing on television, and was told she could use the term “lawyer,” but not “attorney” or “esquire.” Zacharia hasn’t said which “president of Pepperdine” advised her. She graduated from law school there in 2011. Andrew K. Benton was the university’s president at that time. In 2019, Jim Gash became the president told the Times that he was not the one who advised her, though he did call her “a young woman of high integrity.” You know, a a young woman of high integrity who represented herself a lawyer without having a law license. Gash’s representative said “he does not comment on private conversations,” but a statement from Gash said: “Pepperdine is proud to count Katie among our alumni, former colleagues and friends. As she takes on this significant responsibility, we pray that God will grant her wisdom and courage. We look forward to seeing her use her incredible gifts and extensive experience in service to our nation.”
Got it. A non-responsive answer. A law degree from Pepperdine isn’t worth the paper it is printed on, and the school’s presidents are cowards and suck-ups.
I’m glad she had the sense and grace to step aside.
Hypocrisy is a bitch, though. Are they still calling Sayed, Dr.? Word is he never passed medical boards.
And speaking of establishing credentials – they wanted proof that she is a lawyer, but no proof of citizenship required to vote.
Scalawags
I as going o write the same comment
I will register my standing objection to your narrow-minded position that “lawyer” means someone who is licensed to practice law in a particular jurisdiction. That may be a technical American definition, but I think it ignores a general colloquial definition of someone educated in the law.
That is why you get Jill Bidens calling themselves “doctors.” Because they are, but not in the colloquial way we refer to doctors. Before lawyers were required to be JD’s, what did someone with an LLM or an LLB call themselves? And, what do JD’s who have not passed the bar They probably called themselves lawyers. And, then, the American legal system co-opted the language and said “lawyer” means this one thing.
So, I still don’t have a problem if she called herself a “lawyer,” because there is some ambiguity there (whether you think so or not). However, it sounds like she may have called herself an “attorney,” as well. If that is the case, she is either ignorant or lying (probably ignorant because, as I said, most lawyers don’t understand the implication of being an “attorney.”)
Ambiguous side-note: an attorney on a listserv of mine suggested that “Attorney at Law” was a redundant phrase. I disagreed, pointing out there can be “Attorneys in Fact.” They are not Attorneys at Law, but they are, in fact, attorneys.
Shoot! Now, I need to backtrack on my whole “Attorneys” comment. However, I am betting she did not say that she was an Attorney in Fact, and that is usually the qualification you should point out if you are calling yourself an “attorney” and don’t want to confuse people. I mean, when hot chicks at a bar ask me what I do (which is never-it is usually the hygienist at the dentist office), I just say I am “attorney.” They never ask, “in fact, or at law?” They presume, rightly, that it is at law, though I am also an Attorney in Fact.
-Jut
It’s deceit, Jut.If the average member of the public thinks being a lawyer means they can give legal advice (and they can’t), then a JD representing themselves as a lawyer without a license is misleading the public. Ironically, a JD can call himself a “doctor” as long as he doesn’t let people think he can take out tonsils. It’s an academic designation. “Ambiguity” is the thicket where deceit dwells.
I think, I. Her case, it is less deceit than stupidity.
Having said that, if she called herself a “lawyer” to avoid the fact that she did not pass the bar, that would be deceitful or incredibly stupid because the internet.
Whether deceitful or incredibly stupid, only the former is a qualification for press secretary, unless you are KJP, where the latter is not disqualifying .
But, Trump got rid of her.
Good.
-Jut
She should have called herself “a law school graduate.” Anyone calling themselves “a Doctor of Laws” would be deemed a weirdo.
I guess she was embarrassed about having taken and failed the California bar exam, which, like the New York bar exam, is a very difficult bar exam to pass. I don’t think anyone who’s failed either of those once really has anything to be ashamed of. My college roommate and best friend flunked the New York bar the first time he took it and still got his job at his Wall Street firm. My “big” firm in Phoenix fired newbie law school graduates who failed the Arizona bar.
I have asked now six lawyers of all sides of the political spectrum. Every one said, “A JD without a license is not a lawyer. A JD without a license is a law school graduate.
All of my associate class were firmly instructed we were nothing more than summer clerks until we were admitted. We were simply to do internal research memos or some initial drafting of documents for lawyers and have no interaction whatsoever with clients. Because we weren’t lawyers.
With all due respect Old Bill, when I started out in private practice, Floyd was one of the old guys.
Floyd was a West Point graduate.
He graduated from Emory in Georgia.
He practiced in Georgia for close to three decades before moving to Minnesota.
When he tried to move to Minnesota, he had to explain that an LLB is the equivalent of a JD. He was not a law school graduate in the 1950s.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws. He is dead now. But, I bet if I asked him (and maybe I did), he would have described himself as a lawyer.
He did not graduate from law school and he did not have a JD. Those developments are relatively recent.
Ask Jack: Lincoln did not go to law school, he had no JD, he “read the law,” and he probably was not licensed. He was educated in the law and that made him a lawyer.
-Jut
Clarence Darrow didn’t go to law school either.
Did Floyd take and pass a bar exam in either Georgia or Minnesota?
Of course. People used to “read the law” while working as clerks for lawyers. And their law school degrees were other than Juris Doctor. Did they have to take bar exams? I’m not sure. Is any of that relevant to this woman’s situation?
Bar examination in the United States – Wikipedia
We live in the here and now. Whatever requirements were in the past or in other jurisdictions, professions in the USA (medicine, law, accounting) usually require meeting certain education coursework, passing a rather rigorous multi-day exam and completing a certain number of years of experience, sometimes with specific field work tasks. These requirements are meant to ensure that only the most qualified individuals are able to hold themselves out as physicians, attorneys and CPAs. In some states it is illegal to use a professional designation if you are not appropriately licensed.
While she may ne a smart, lovely human being, Ms. Zacharia is no innocent waif fresh out of university. She is in her mid-thirties, left law school at least eleven years ago, and has enough life experience to know how to avoid this bone-headed faux pax. Really bad optics for a President who doesn’t need more. No excuses.
This is not a narrow minded definition – it is what professions are today in America.