In Pennsylvania, Kimberly Kitchen is in big legal trouble. And many colleagues feel betrayed by her. Those include licensed lawyers at the BMZ Law firm where she worked on estate planning.
As Daily Mail reports, Kitchen allegedly committed forgery to present herself as a graduate of Duquesne Law School and a lawyer licensed in the state of CT. She made it all the way to head the local bar association.
This week she had been charged with alleged forgery and unauthorized practice of law. If convicted, she faces 6 years in prison.
The question many might ask is: If she was so competent at pretending to be a lawyer, why didn't she just go through the steps of actually becoming one? That would have entailed three years of law school and studying for the bar examination.But, we in creative professions know the lure of playing "make believe."
Graduates of elite colleges flock to Manhattan every year to starve as they attempt to become professional actors. They could have had entry level jobs in the finance industry.
I love ghostwriting because I get to take on the identity of wealthy, influential, and powerful men and women. Never, no matter how hard I worked or how many lucky breaks I got, could I become what they have managed to put together.
Novelists also try on all kinds of personas. Just consider the types of creatures Stephen King has created.
Many of us in creative career paths could be making more in others. But, the bottom line is that we can't sustain living in reality. I tried several times with buttoned-down corporate positions. Disasterville, despite the great compensation.
Maybe in prison, Kitchen can start a theatre group. She could help other inmates heal. They, too, might have had their difficulties with reality.
When she is released, Kitchen might get special permission to attend law school and be admitted for real to the PA bar. More likely, she could find great professional satisfaction in a creative profession.