Over time we've followed the saga of Brian Valery, the Anderson Kill paralegal who falsely told his employer — a major law firm — that he had gone to law school and passed the bar.  His reward was employment as an attorney.  Valery eventually got caught. 

Law.com reports that Valery has now pled guilty to grand larceny for accepting an attorney's salary under false pretenses.  He now has until January 30, 2008 — his sentencing date — to repay $150,000.  If he does, it's 5 years probation.  If not, it's 5 to 15 in the slammer.

Valery is an extreme case, but we can't stress enough the importance to professional services firms of checking the qualifications of new hires.