Man allegedly steals attorney's identity, then poses as lawyer
If you hired a "Shlomo G. Dickerman" in Brooklyn to represent you in court, you better find someone new: he's been arrested for allegedly stealing the identity of an actual lawyer and posing as an attorney more than 10 times.
In 2009, the man calling himself Shlomo Dickerman (authorities say they're not sure of his real name) went and filled out a court registration form, using the social security number, law school, and birthday of a lawyer with the last name of Dickerman who had not renewed his New York attorney registration, NBC News reports. The impostor asked for a name change, saying he wanted to go by his Hebrew name of "Shlomo."
The complaint against Dickerman claims that he went on to pose as a lawyer in eight cases in the Eastern District of New York and three in the Southern District; one of his cases was representing an immigrant facing deportation. He allegedly set up shop in Brighton Beach, and started filing federal lawsuits on behalf of clients with no knowledge of what he was doing.
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Before he was arrested, the faux lawyer met with two undercover FBI agents in July, and said he would represent one in a civil action suit for a $10,000 retainer — later dropped down to $5,000 — and $400 an hour. Maybe now he can use some of that money to hire a good attorney.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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