Texas Mom Forged Law Degree with Wrong Names, Cops Say

Police in Texas are investigating a woman who allegedly faked attending law school and forged a law degree, complete with signatures from the school's dean and president.

Michelle Lee Fyfe, 43, of Dallas, also claimed to have worked as an intern at Haynes & Boone, an international corporate law firm. But there is no record of Fyfe ever working there, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Fyfe declined to comment to the Morning News. But coworkers described how the working mom's law school tales became increasingly suspicious over the years.

Michelle Lee Fyfe's alleged forged law degree purports to be from Southern Methodist University. The school maintains Fyfe was never enrolled, though she told friends and coworkers otherwise.

Fyfe, a mother of two, worked in the billing department at a doctor's office where her husband works as a cardiologist. (Her husband is currently studying in England, and the couple is in the midst of divorce proceedings, according to the Morning News.)

Beginning about five years ago, Fyfe told coworkers and patients she was attending law school night classes. "Whenever she came in, she'd say, 'I've got to go. I have a class,'" one coworker told the paper. "She would talk to patients and say how hard it was and how great it'd be when she was finished."

But Fyfe never carried law books around, and took vacations during the supposed school year. Fyfe also claimed to have graduated in August, when SMU's commencement is in May.

Nevertheless, Fyfe rented a private hotel room for a graduation party, though it's not clear who showed up. Fyfe may also have forged a law school transcript, the Morning News reports.

Police won't say who tipped them off about Fyfe's alleged forgery. Possessing or creating a forged academic degree is a Class B misdemeanor under Texas law. If Fyfe is charged and convicted, she could face a possible 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

That's chump change compared to law school tuition, which Michelle Lee Fyfe allegedly never paid. Fyfe no longer works at the doctor's office, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Related Resources:

• Texas Woman Accused of Forging Law Degree, Faking Biglaw Summer Associate Position (Above the Law)
• Homeless, Fake Lawyer Offered 'Strategies Most Attorneys Don't Use' (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
• Fake Lawyer Almost Graduated from Cooley, Pleads Guilty to Theft (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
• Fake Lawyer Howard Kieffer Wins Sentencing Error Appeal (FindLaw's U.S. Tenth Circuit blog)