A lawyer who improved her exam grades and got jobs in major law firms as a result has been sentenced to nine months’ probation. The Tiergarten district court issued a corresponding penalty order against the 44-year-old for forging documents on Tuesday. From the court’s point of view, however, there was no fraud, which the prosecution had initially assumed. The judge reasoned that no financial damage had been caused: the woman had always passed probationary periods, one could not speak of bad work.
“Far above average gross salary”
The woman had significantly raised her legal state exams and her high school diploma with an image editing program – according to the indictment, she faked her exam grades by two grades better. Thanks to the embellished certificates, the woman was employed at three major law firms between 2015 and 2020 – two in Berlin and one in Munich. According to the indictment, she was “paid a gross salary that corresponded to the fake grades and was well above average”.
The commercial lawyer had confessed to the swindle in court. She made a “mistake that became independent,” the woman explained through her defense attorney. After her exam she was unsuccessful with more than 100 applications. With better grades she got jobs. The applications were submitted electronically. “It went great, I think I was good,” said the woman. After she was blown up in August 2020, she voluntarily gave up her license to practice law. I beg your pardon.
The public prosecutor’s office had brought charges of commercial fraud and forgery of documents with alleged damage totaling almost 640,000 euros. After a legal discussion between the parties involved in the process, the court switched to what is known as a penalty order procedure. The presiding judge already wrote in the opening order that it could be problematic to assume fraud. The woman can appeal the penalty order. (dpa)
