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Medical Examiner Accused of Lying About Having Paralegal Degree

By Lynne DeVenny

Sometimes it's easy to see why someone lies on a resume, including listing a fake college education to get a job, but why would a licensed physician tell a defense attorney that he has a paralegal degree?

Maybe because he is accused of listing a law degree on his curriculum vitae - from a law school that never existed.

The Chief Medical Examiner of El Paso County, Texas, Dr. Paul Shrode, is the subject of a complaint filed with the Texas Medical Board, accusing him of "violating state law by falsifying his resume to obtain the job of chief medical examiner of El Paso County."

In addition to not having the law degree listed on his C.V., he is accused of failing to "disclose that he had failed the board certification exam in pathology."

Dr. Shrode's credentials have been questioned in the past. The El Paso Times reports:

That was why the county commissioners in 2007 questioned Shrode about his résumé and his claim of having a graduate law degree. Called before the Commissioners Court, Shrode admitted he had no such degree.

He detailed each of his degrees and qualifications, and then said he had made a mistake on his résumé in claiming a law degree.

Since he completed medical school and doesn't need a law degree to qualify for the medical examiner position, that's an interesting mistake to make.

If you're going to bestow a J.D. upon yourself, at least verify that your university of choice had a law school that coincides with your stated dates of attendance.

But in 2007, the El Paso County Commissioners didn't seem bothered by Shrode's lack of lawyer or paralegal credentials, merely admonishing him, "Don't do it again" - because "it's not like you're going to hurt one of your patients."

All righty, then.

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on November 27, 2009 (boomark / email).