Svitzana Sangary is facing six-months suspension of law practice and probably three years probation once the California Supreme Court approves the recommendation of California State Bar after the latter found she faked photos of her with rich and famous personalities and posted these in her company website to lure clients.
California State Bar Court Judge Donald F. Miles said the pictures , "were created by taking original celebrity photos and then overlaying Sangary's image in order to make it appear as though Sangary was in the presence of that celebrity."
Under the Publicity Section of her website, 72 photos of Sangary with the who's who of US high profile society can be seen. The likes of former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, George Clooney, Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Gardner, Leonaro DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin, etc., including President Barack Obama, are there.
But then, there was no direct testimonial of the celebrities endorsing her as their lawyer. Many believe Sangary's act was normal to merely ride on the celebrity-crazed world, or that maybe Sangary is a fan herself of the rich and famous who just wanted to be seen with her 'idols'. Says high-profile legal analyst and celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos in an article that came out in CNN, her "photoshop frenzy is (not) troublesome or worth(y) of suspension." He added, "If that kind of puffery is actionable by the state bar, you are going to put the entire membership of state bar out of business... There is no greater group of self-promoters than lawyers, and puffery goes with the territory."
Tacky as it may seem to defend Sangary's act as that of fan, her exhibits to the State Bar that included an email of President Obama asking for her donation to the Democratic Party, is note-taking. That accordingly, the photoshopped picture with Obama could be Sangary's mode of taking back the donation she shelled out to the Democrats party.
