President Donald Trump ’s newly appointed White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, is facing mounting scrutiny over her legal credentials. A complaint was filed with the State Bar of California alleging she held herself out as entitled to practice law without a license.
Zacharia earned a Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine University in 2011, according to The New York Times. Wall Street Journal reporters that according to a person with intimate knowledge of the situation, Zacharia took the California bar test after earning her law degree from Pepperdine University in 2011, but she failed. Reporters later asked Zacharia where she had passed the bar exam. She twice replied, “When I moved to China. She reportedly took the test around the time she was getting ready to get married and go to China with her prospective spouse.
The controversy erupted just days into Zacharia’s tenure after President Trump referred to her as “an attorney” during her introduction. “I assumed the question was, ‘Where were you after law school?’” she said. However, the publication said it could not locate a law license for her in California or any other US jurisdiction.
Zacharia’s work history in China
She also listed Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing as her workplace for nearly two years starting in 2011. Zacharia has a law degree from the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, but there’s no evidence she ever passed a bar exam. “Where did she pass the bar exam?
Because experts said she is not, earlier reporting noted: A major row erupted over White House’s new press secretary Katie Zacharia, calling herself a lawyer.
Zacharia told the publication that before appearing on television as a legal commentator, she consulted Pepperdine University’s president about how she should describe herself publicly. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, told The New York Times that the title generally implies someone is licensed to provide legal advice. Law professor Sida Liu of the University of Hong Kong also told NYT that describing oneself as an “associate” at a Chinese law firm could be misleading if it suggests admission to practice law in China. Which state?” a reporter asked Trump on Tuesday, who turned to Zacharia to ask her, “which state? On her LinkedIn, she lists herself as “general counsel” for the activist group Fix California.
Earlier reporting noted: ‘When I moved to China’: Major row over Katie Zacharia’s calling herself a lawyer; only citizens can get a license to practise law in China White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is in hot water as she claims to be a lawyer but there is no confirmation that she passed the bar exam. Earlier reporting noted: But it’s still not clear which bar exam she took as only citizens can become licenced to practice law in China.
