Man Accused of Posing as Lawyer: “All My Clients Won”

In a jailhouse interview, a Dallas man accused of impersonating an attorney said he only posed as a lawyer once -- because he panicked while intoxicated.

Jeffrey Scott Partlow, 42, admitted in the interview Thursday that he is not an attorney. He said he is a paralegal who often does legal paperwork for clients in divorce cases.

He said he was in court for the first time when he walked into Judge Andrew Bench's Hunt County courtroom in October with a client. Partlow said he was drunk and panicked when the judge noticed he was intoxicated and began questioning him. He then told the judge he was an attorney, he said.

But investigators said Partlow had told other people he was a lawyer.

Investigators said he has clients who believed he was an attorney, letterhead that reads the Law Offices J. Scott Partlow and billing statements signed "J. Scott Partlow, attorney."

Partlow said he is an alcoholic and ex-con who does excellent legal work for people who need his services.

Investigators have said Partlow posed as an attorney in 18 Texas counties. Partlow denied doing legal work in 18 counties but could not put a number on the amount of clients he worked with in the last nine years.

Partlow said he is ready to accept punishment for anything he has done wrong but doesn't believe that any of the cases he worked on should be reversed. Every case he's worked on, he's won, he said.

Partlow is jailed in Hunt County on charges of contempt of court and public intoxication.

Contact Us