Legal Ethics

Resume lies lead to disbarment for former Paul Hastings partner

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A former Paul Hastings partner in London has been disbarred for inflating his resume.

Dennis Thomas O’Riordan originally faced a three-year suspension for the embellished resume, but the United Kingdom’s Bar Standards Board sought a harsher penalty on appeal, the Am Law Daily reports. The board announced the disbarment on Wednesday.

O’Riordan falsely claimed that he had degrees from Oxford and Harvard and membership in the New York bar. He also claimed he was an Eldon Scholar at Oxford Law. He actually studied law at the University of East Anglia before he was admitted to the bar.

A Paul Hastings spokeswoman told the Am Law Daily that the firm “has nothing to discuss regarding this matter.”

The deception was discovered when O’Riordan applied for a new job. Previous news coverage says that O’Riordan was a “high-powered” and well-liked lawyer before his downfall.

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