Mauricio Celis appeared in a Corpus Christi courtroom on April 22 to begin serving 10 years’ probation on 14 counts of falsely presenting himself as a lawyer. At the time of his trial, a local district attorney nicknamed him the “biggest con man in the history of Nueces County.”
Less than a week later, his lawyers were back in court. Only this time, they were in Chicago fighting to preserve Celis’ seat in an executive LL.M. program offered jointly by Northwestern University School of Law and the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid. Administrators had expelled Celis when they learned of his criminal history.
