The appears to be a fake law firm holding itself out as operating in New York, according to a report in the ABA Journal.

Why someone (either a criminal or a government operator conducting a sting) would want to invent a law firm is not hard to imagine. For anyone to be taken in by a fake firm would mean they had done not the slightest bit of due diligence.

Without knowing for certain whether or not the law firm in question is genuine, here is a free, one-step process you should always follow when researching a new lawyer:

1. Attorneys need to be licensed. As with any other licensed profession, look up the licensee. In the case of the firm listed above, the partner who is supposed to have attended a New York law school is not listed at being admitted to practice law in New York.

There could be reasons for that, I suppose, but why have a single location in New York when you can’t practice there? Then there is this: That same partner is supposed to hold a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from a U.S. law school that awards the Juris Doctor degree and not the BCL.