Law Student Expelled For Forging Transcript

A Harvard Law School student has been expelled for "extensive forgery" on his undergraduate transcript, according to Law School Registrar Stephen Kane, one of two voting administrators on the school's Administrative Board.

School officials have not disclosed the name of the male student, who was permanently expelled by a vote of the school's faculty Dec. 13.

Kane discovered forgery in the student's undergraduate record and brought it to the attention of the Ad Board, which recommended expulsion at a meeting in December.

Kane would not say why he inspected the student's record, saying only that it was "inconsistent."

Kane also refused to indicate where the student attended undergraduate school.

According to a Jan. 17 report in the Harvard Law Record, the school's student newspaper, the student's undergraduate institution may be pursuing litigation against him.

In cases in which the Law School Ad Board recommends expulsion, a two-thirds vote of the full faculty is required to carry it out.

Kane said the faculty vote passed by a "substantial majority." He said the expulsion "was consistent with someone falsifying their transcript."

The expelled student did not ask for a supplementary hearing, and has left the Law School.

Law School Dean of Students Suzanne Richardson, the Ad Board's nonvoting secretary, did not return a telephone call yesterday.

Law students were first informed of the expulsion when it was announced Jan. 9 in the Adviser, a school publication.

"When it first came out a lot of people were discussing it from a curiosity standpoint," said Beth Hirshfelder, a second-year law student. "The best speculation is that it is a [first-year law student], but that is not necessarily true."

According to the Harvard Law Record, a second-year law student was expelled in 1992 for reporting false LSAT scores.