The Courier-Journal published the following news story August 9, 2005 regarding a criminal prosecution for practicing law without a license. Prosecutors claim Christopher Watkins practiced at three firms in Louisville before it was discovered he had never been licensed by Kentucky (or any place for that matter).
Article Extracts Follow:
"He is not a member of the Kentucky bar and never has been," said Michele Pogrotsky, director of accounting and membership for the state bar association. "We have nothing on him."
Prosecutor Elizabeth Downey said her office is seeking Kentuckians who may have been clients of Watkins since 1998. "I don't believe any of his clients are aware that he was not an attorney," she said. (Click here for contacting Jefferson County's Commonwealth Attorney's Office)
Here is the article with links:Prosecutors say Louisvillian posed as lawyer for years
Watkins worked for 3 local firms
By Jason Riley
jriley@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal - Aug. 9, 2005 (available on line - CLICK HERE).Christopher Watkins' resume was impressive: A 43-year-old Princeton University graduate, attorney, law instructor and an assistant district attorney in North Carolina, trying more than 750 cases.
But it was a lie, according to prosecutors in Jefferson County, who have charged Watkins with felony theft and unauthorized practice of law, most recently with the firm of Rawlings & Associates in downtown Louisville.
Prosecutors said Watkins was hired three times in the last seven years by local firms that somehow missed the fact that he was not licensed.
He "seemed to be very credible. … We called the other law firms he worked for, and they all liked him," Marvin O'Koon said. His firm, O'Koon Hintermeister, on West Jefferson Street, was the most recent to receive an application from Watkins, but did not hire him.
O'Koon said his firm did not initially check to see if Watkins had passed the bar examination or graduated from law school. "We kind of assume that if somebody puts it on a resume, it's true," he said. "I guess I won't assume that anymore."
Yesterday, Watkins was handcuffed in an orange jumpsuit, standing before a Jefferson circuit judge he had once practiced before. He was arrested Friday at his home in the Highlands on charges of felony theft, for allegedly taking more than $170,000 in salary from Rawlings, as well as unauthorized practice of law, a misdemeanor.
Watkins pleaded not guilty through his attorneys, and his bond was set at $25,000 cash. He was being held yesterday at Metro Corrections.
Mark Gaston, an attorney for Watkins, said yesterday that he didn't yet know enough about his client to answer questions. Watkins declined an interview from jail.
But according to agencies in Kentucky and North Carolina, Watkins was never licensed as an attorney in either state.
Officials at Princeton, where Watkins said he had been class president and on the varsity tennis team, had no record of him attending. Nor did he graduate from the University of North Carolina law school, as his resume claimed; the school's office of the registrar said it has no record of it.
Court records also show he was not on the governor's crime commission in North Carolina or an assistant district attorney in that state, as his resume also claimed.
Prosecutor Elizabeth Downey said her office is seeking Kentuckians who may have been clients of Watkins since 1998. "I don't believe any of his clients are aware that he was not an attorney," she said.
Downey said that while it is not uncommon for a person to be charged with unauthorized practice, such cases usually involve someone representing himself or herself in a case.
The length of time Watkins is accused of posing as an attorney -- and the corresponding felony charge -- are extremely rare, Downey said. When asked how someone could act as an attorney for so long without credentials, she said, "My guess is no one checked."
Downey said the Rawlings group could be open to malpractice lawsuits because of Watkins' impersonation.
Worked for three firms
Rawlings & Associates hired a Florida company, RembrandtAdvantage, to evaluate Watkins before hiring him, according to court records, and RembrandtAdvantage recommended him for the job. But a spokesman for that company said yesterday that it conducts psychological testing and doesn't look into a person's background or the validity of his or her resume.
Watkins worked for Rawlings from 2001 until March 31, when he was fired; his focus was insurance subrogation, a process that involves seeking repayment to insurers when another payer is found to be responsible, Downey said.
Joan O'Brien, vice president of human resources for Rawlings, confirmed that Watkins no longer worked for Rawlings, but declined to comment further.
Watkins had worked for at least two other local law firms:
In 1998, he worked for Morris Garlove Waterman Johnson on Main Street and was an attorney on two civil cases before circuit judges, including Judge Stephen Ryan, who is now the judge in Watkins' criminal case. Ryan said he did not remember Watkins.
Joe Cohen, an attorney with Morris Garlove, said the firm could not comment on Watkins or his case until it had more information.
In 2000, Watkins worked as an attorney with Trautwein & Keeney, a Louisville law firm that has since disbanded, where he assisted with civil litigation.
The Jefferson commonwealth's attorney's investigation into Watkins began this summer after he applied for a position with O'Koon Hintermeister.
Marvin O'Koon said his firm made a routine call to the Kentucky Bar Association to check Watkins' status. Downey said the bar then "determined they had no record of him."
"He is not a member of the Kentucky bar and never has been," said Michele Pogrotsky, director of accounting and membership for the state bar association. "We have nothing on him."
O'Koon said Watkins was "a very nice fellow" who seemed to have an impressive resume.
"There were no red flags," he said.
Resumes list activities
Watkins' resumes -- the court file includes copies of three, which differ in various areas -- list a number of other professional and civic associations, although they don't provide many details.
They say, for example, that he had been a high school teacher of the year, tennis coach, officer in the Navy, assistant manager with a large clothing manufacturer and a stockbroker, among other things.
One resume said he attended Louisville's Kentucky Country Day School from 1977 to 1979 and was a teaching assistant at the University of Kentucky from 1979 to 1981.
But the registrar's office at the University of Louisville has a Christopher Dale Watkins as an undergraduate from 1970 to 1972.
That is Watkins' full name, and that person's birth date -- Sept. 30, 1950 -- matches a notation in Watkins' court records by a Kentucky Bar Association investigator. (But some other documents, such as health-insurance forms, give Watkins' birth date as Sept. 30, 1961.)
Watkins has noted in court records that he is not married, and he listed a friend, James Jefferson Walker, as his beneficiary.
In an interview yesterday, Walker said he became friends with Watkins when they worked together at Rawlings. Walker, who is not a lawyer, said he believed Watkins was an attorney and considered him a "good friend, a good person."
"He's always donating to charities and individuals. He's always been a good, caring person," Walker said, adding that he knew he was Watkins' beneficiary. He said Watkins told him his only family was his father.
Neighbors expressed sadness at the news of Watkins' arrest and disbelief at the allegations against him. They described him as a gentle, quiet loner who took in stray cats.
An official with the Louisville Bar Association, where Watkins volunteered for its Call A Lawyer program, has described Watkins as the "best lawyer they had in the program," according to a letter to Downey from the Kentucky Bar Association, which had interviewed the official.
Vivian Miller, member services director for the Louisville Bar Association, said in an interview that Watkins was personable and gave general legal advice for the program.
"He came in and helped us several different times for that program," she said, adding that he joined the Louisville Bar Association in 1998 but is no longer a member.
Staff writer Marcus Wohlsen contributed to this story.
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