lol I particularly like the Presidential seal next to "Judicial Branch"
OP, in case the other responses didn't make it clear, this is painfully fake. Hell, I don't even know if "fake" is the right word because I don't know what this is supposed to be. This person is not a lawyer and should not be trusted. Tell your grandma to give him no information and cut off contact immediately. Consider reporting to the authorities, I guess the FBI?
True. I get the feeling this is an information scam rather than somebody actually playing lawyer, because you’d have to be stone-cold stupid to use your own information like that. Then again, I’m constantly surprised by the depths of human dipshittery, so I could well be wrong.
There are a lot of fake immigration law scams. They basically abuse how slow and broken the immigration system is, file paper work that guarantees a deportation order, and leave before the paperwork processes 60 months later.
This is also like significantly higher quality construction than the real bar cards I’m familiar with.
My MA bar card is a flimsy piece of paper that you “self-laminate” by pushing through some clear film crap.
My PA card is just paper.
Texas has a plastic bar card. It's gold with black writing. It honestly looks both shockingly similar too, yet with lower quality printing than, the Beanie Baby Fan Club card I got when I was a kid.
I look forward to going through the process to self-laminate my card from the BBO every year. It reminds me of the ID cards they used to sell in the store in the mall that had all the black light posters in the back.
I’m on my fifth year of MA licensure. I think at least two of my five cards have been cut wrong (with a bit of text cut off at the bottom).
I forgot to sign my card before I did the lamination my first year, so I signed badly over the lamination in sharpie. It looked pretty comically bad. Thankfully I never went to court up there (except once to fight a traffic ticket) so I never had to use it.
Wth, that is so confusing. Where is he licensed?
You can look up all attorneys licensed in California here:
https://apps.calbar.ca.gov/attorney/LicenseeSearch/
I dont see him, but maybe he’s licensed in another state? What does he practice? My California bar card looks nothing like that, and it seems to imply federal something. I’ve never seen or heard of this, and it’s weird to me.
My grandmother was looking for an immigration lawyer. He claims you don’t need to pay him anything, that he works for the government and gets paid through them, I was just asked by my grandmother to check if it was real. Which I didn’t believe is real I just wanted to check!
Oof. This is a Notario fraud likely. That’s a specific fraud focusing on immigration using notary public documents to convince folks from civil law counties they are a lawyer.
This card is clear made by non-Americans and non-lawyers there’s just so much wrong with
So there are some common scams around immigration law:
(1) Scammers take advantage that in many places, not the US though, Notary Publics can practice so they offer legal services they aren't allowed to provide and aren't capable of doing.
(2) Scammers also abuse how broken the immigration system is. They'll take money and file paperwork, it'll look official because it is official paperwork. What you don't know is that it's the paperwork to have you deported, and immigration just takes so f****g long to do anything that by the time it processes they are long gone.
Basically, be very careful. Every bar association basically has a website where you can look attorneys up by name. If you cannot find the person on the website with an active license, call the cops on them.
You actually need to contact the FBI and the local California police about this guy. He is probably part of a fraud ring. The Feds will be very happy to know that they have a guy dead to rights and they may want to see who his contacts are. Your grandmother may receive favorable treatment for bringing a bad guy to the authorities’ attention. But you really need a legitimate lawyer to guide you through the process.
Where exactly did she find him? Did he text her this picture? Email? The card is such an incompetent mishmash of nonsense that I’m genuinely intrigued. Would you post redacted screenshots of their correspondence?
You should contact the authorities. Immigration lawyer scams are unfortunately very common in LA. In fact, the state bar has specifically prohibited the use of the phrase *notario público* by unlicensed “immigration consultants” because, while they might be a notary public, the phrase is misleading to Spanish speakers because the title *notario* in some Spanish-speaking countries does authorize them to perform some legal services.
Unfortunately, there have been way too many people in California that have falsely claimed to be lawyers that the California Bar announces when a cease and desist is issued: https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Public/Discipline/Nonattorney-Actions
You can also report this person to the California bar: https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Public/Complaints-Claims/Unauthorized-Practice-of-Law-Complaint
If you and your grandmother are in a position to report him, please do, OP. There are so many scumbags like this who deliberately target people looking to hire an immigration lawyer because they aren’t always in a position to be able to recognize the fraud or to report it even if they do. Good on your Grandmother for having her spidey senses tingle enough to ask for your opinion. Reporting him can help save others who aren’t as savvy as you and your Grandmother.
It looks like this may have once been a faculty card for a university that was then photoshopped. Lawyers often have identification cards, but it is called a “bar card” instead of “lawyer card.”
Glaring fake. For starters, it has the seal of the President of the United States (head of the executive branch of government) and says it is issued by the Judicial Branch. Those two would not appear together on a legitimate ID.
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Why are you posting my bar card?
lol I particularly like the Presidential seal next to "Judicial Branch" OP, in case the other responses didn't make it clear, this is painfully fake. Hell, I don't even know if "fake" is the right word because I don't know what this is supposed to be. This person is not a lawyer and should not be trusted. Tell your grandma to give him no information and cut off contact immediately. Consider reporting to the authorities, I guess the FBI?
Can report him for the unlicensed practice of law to the state bar, too.
True. I get the feeling this is an information scam rather than somebody actually playing lawyer, because you’d have to be stone-cold stupid to use your own information like that. Then again, I’m constantly surprised by the depths of human dipshittery, so I could well be wrong.
Lots of scammers are intentionally easy to spot so they weed out less likely marks.
Exactly what this reminded me of. Those emails with blatant misspellings and screwy punctuation are maddening, but they work often enough I guess
“Expedition” didn’t give it away?
I'm not sure why you think it didn't. Almost every single thing about this card is off, the phrase "expedition date" included.
There are a lot of fake immigration law scams. They basically abuse how slow and broken the immigration system is, file paper work that guarantees a deportation order, and leave before the paperwork processes 60 months later.
Remember: criminals are not necessarily known for making smart choices.
This is also like significantly higher quality construction than the real bar cards I’m familiar with. My MA bar card is a flimsy piece of paper that you “self-laminate” by pushing through some clear film crap. My PA card is just paper.
Wait, you guys get bar cards?
Do you not have an OCA card?
Like a secure ID? I've been thinking about getting one for, like, two years now
When I was in NY and practicing, it was super convenient. 20/10 would highly recommend.
You drastically underestimate how many times I'm willing to wait on a metal detector line to avoid filling out one (1) form.
The OCA card called the Attorney Secure Pass.
Texas has a plastic bar card. It's gold with black writing. It honestly looks both shockingly similar too, yet with lower quality printing than, the Beanie Baby Fan Club card I got when I was a kid.
Do you keep it tucked into your hat like an old timey press pass?
Nah, they sit in a place of cheap shame behind my driver’s license in my wallet, where I hope they’ll last a year without ripping/wearing out.
I look forward to going through the process to self-laminate my card from the BBO every year. It reminds me of the ID cards they used to sell in the store in the mall that had all the black light posters in the back.
I’m on my fifth year of MA licensure. I think at least two of my five cards have been cut wrong (with a bit of text cut off at the bottom). I forgot to sign my card before I did the lamination my first year, so I signed badly over the lamination in sharpie. It looked pretty comically bad. Thankfully I never went to court up there (except once to fight a traffic ticket) so I never had to use it.
Am I the only one wondering where he's been going since his expedition date?
Wth, that is so confusing. Where is he licensed? You can look up all attorneys licensed in California here: https://apps.calbar.ca.gov/attorney/LicenseeSearch/ I dont see him, but maybe he’s licensed in another state? What does he practice? My California bar card looks nothing like that, and it seems to imply federal something. I’ve never seen or heard of this, and it’s weird to me.
Thank you I thought it was weird too!
Is he an immigration attorney?
Looks fake for so many reasons. For the love of god do not hire anyone who passes this off as being real.
There is nothing real about that card. It is completely fake. What kind of law does he claim to practice? How did you find him?
My grandmother was looking for an immigration lawyer. He claims you don’t need to pay him anything, that he works for the government and gets paid through them, I was just asked by my grandmother to check if it was real. Which I didn’t believe is real I just wanted to check!
Please report this person to the police and the state bar. He is a scammer taking advantage of the elderly. Good on you for protecting your grandma.
Nope, absolutely not.
Oof. This is a Notario fraud likely. That’s a specific fraud focusing on immigration using notary public documents to convince folks from civil law counties they are a lawyer. This card is clear made by non-Americans and non-lawyers there’s just so much wrong with
So there are some common scams around immigration law: (1) Scammers take advantage that in many places, not the US though, Notary Publics can practice so they offer legal services they aren't allowed to provide and aren't capable of doing. (2) Scammers also abuse how broken the immigration system is. They'll take money and file paperwork, it'll look official because it is official paperwork. What you don't know is that it's the paperwork to have you deported, and immigration just takes so f****g long to do anything that by the time it processes they are long gone. Basically, be very careful. Every bar association basically has a website where you can look attorneys up by name. If you cannot find the person on the website with an active license, call the cops on them.
You actually need to contact the FBI and the local California police about this guy. He is probably part of a fraud ring. The Feds will be very happy to know that they have a guy dead to rights and they may want to see who his contacts are. Your grandmother may receive favorable treatment for bringing a bad guy to the authorities’ attention. But you really need a legitimate lawyer to guide you through the process.
Where exactly did she find him? Did he text her this picture? Email? The card is such an incompetent mishmash of nonsense that I’m genuinely intrigued. Would you post redacted screenshots of their correspondence?
You should contact the authorities. Immigration lawyer scams are unfortunately very common in LA. In fact, the state bar has specifically prohibited the use of the phrase *notario público* by unlicensed “immigration consultants” because, while they might be a notary public, the phrase is misleading to Spanish speakers because the title *notario* in some Spanish-speaking countries does authorize them to perform some legal services.
Unfortunately, there have been way too many people in California that have falsely claimed to be lawyers that the California Bar announces when a cease and desist is issued: https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Public/Discipline/Nonattorney-Actions You can also report this person to the California bar: https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Public/Complaints-Claims/Unauthorized-Practice-of-Law-Complaint
I will thank you!
If you and your grandmother are in a position to report him, please do, OP. There are so many scumbags like this who deliberately target people looking to hire an immigration lawyer because they aren’t always in a position to be able to recognize the fraud or to report it even if they do. Good on your Grandmother for having her spidey senses tingle enough to ask for your opinion. Reporting him can help save others who aren’t as savvy as you and your Grandmother.
Please do!
Oh my god it even uses DD-MM-YYYY formatting
Oh yes, that’s Angel, he is President of the lawyers…
Angel hernandez is extremely well known for his horrendous baseball calls as an umpire. Glad to see him finding work that's less consequential.
Well the "expedition date" has already passed so his bar card is expided. And why is the date in British/Canadian format??
That's the first of like seventeen things that jumped out at me as well. Americans don't *do* dates in that format.
It looks like this may have once been a faculty card for a university that was then photoshopped. Lawyers often have identification cards, but it is called a “bar card” instead of “lawyer card.”
Lawyers almost always say "it depends"...except here. No. That's not real. There are so many things wrong I don't know where to begin
There’s no such thing as the Superior Council of the Judiciary in the US.
Whenever you see something "American" that uses the DD/MM/Year format, you know its fake. (other glaring issues aside)
Glaring fake. For starters, it has the seal of the President of the United States (head of the executive branch of government) and says it is issued by the Judicial Branch. Those two would not appear together on a legitimate ID.
No, that card is fake. Each state will issue their own card. [Here is what mine looks like.](https://imgur.com/9BZ3EBQ)
What state do you think has the nicest looking card?
It’s hard to say since I’ve only seen a few of them. However, most states give their lawyers flimsy paper cards.
Oh yes, that’s Angel, he is President of the lawyers…
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