Authorities: Bogus Harvard Law Grad Bilks Clients out of Thousands

The Associated Press

November 21, 2007

A man who never finished college passed himself off as a Harvard Law School graduate and bilked clients out of more than $50,000, Broward County, Fla., authorities said Monday.

Robert Brady, 26, was charged with six counts of unlicensed practice of law and organized fraud, according to the sheriff's office. He was being held at the Broward County main jail on $350,000 bond.

Authorities said Brady posed as an attorney and collected retainer fees and other payments from clients that included respected lawyers, corporate executives and a physician. He even attended a Republican fundraiser for presidential candidate Fred Thompson recently and introduced himself as an attorney, authorities said in a statement.

Brady also convinced a local mortgage broker to obtain a black American Express card for "Charles J. Brady, Esq." and charged a total of $18,450 in goods and services, authorities said.

Brady's previous arrests include grand theft and uttering a forged instrument.

Brady's defense attorney, Lawrence Livoti, said Brady is a Harvard undergraduate who told people he worked for the law firm of his ex-stepfather.

"This is not a question of somebody working out of a warehouse with a desk and a lamp and a law book on his table. He dealt with clients, he was a consultant to land use and zoning," Livoti told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "If people misunderstood that, that's regrettable."

Information from: South Florida Sun-Sentinel,