Questions have arisen over whether Katie Zacharia, who took on the role of White House Press Secretary only days ago, may have overstated elements of her professional background. Zacharia completed a Pepperdine University law degree in 2011 and has been described, both by herself and by President Donald Trump, as an attorney.
Speaking to a television network from the tarmac of an Arizona rally site, Zacharia offered context for her bar-exam response in which she twice wrote "When I moved to China." She said rotor noise from Marine One had obscured the question, that her position behind the president — maintained out of deference to protocol — made moving forward to hear it more clearly an unrealistic option, and that she had understood the question to be asking where she went after finishing law school.
Under certain readings of the law, she could be classified as a lawyer, a position most legal experts disputed. Coverage from a broadcast outlet indicated that she attempted the California bar examination following her completion of law school, though the results did not go in her favour. Searches across California and every other state where she has resided turned up no record of an active law licence in her name.
Ahead of her cable news appearances, Zacharia reached out to Pepperdine's president for guidance on how to present her professional identity on air. According to her account, the terms "attorney" and "esquire" were off-limits, while "lawyer" remained a permitted alternative.
On LinkedIn, Zacharia carried the title "general counsel" for Fix California, an organisation run by Richard Grenell, who has close ties to Trump. That designation prompted objections from Erwin Chemerinsky, the law school dean at the University of California, Berkeley, who argued that holding such a title at any US organisation carries an unstated expectation of bar membership, given that the role by its nature involves dispensing legal counsel to that body.
On Wednesday, an oversight group filed a formal complaint with the California State Bar, asking the body to look into whether Zacharia had repeatedly held herself out to the public as licensed to practise law when no such licence was in place — conduct that falls under California's criminal statutes. A White House statement noted that her relocation to China came after her husband Tyler took up a position at a US private equity firm operating there. Her role there, according to Zacharia, involved work in the area of international transaction law.
Profile data attributed nearly two years of logged employment to Zhong Lun Law Firm — a practice headquartered in Beijing that ranks among the country's largest, with branch locations extending to Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Almaty in Kazakhstan. No comment came from the law firm when contacted for a response.
Those who hold foreign citizenship are barred from sitting the bar examination in China, obtaining a domestic legal licence, or providing counsel on matters governed by Chinese law. Chinese law firms retain the option of bringing such professionals on board to handle cross-border transactions and provide guidance on matters governed by foreign or international law.
Gary Gao, a Zhong Lun partner based in Shanghai, described a practice at the firm of bringing in foreign nationals to assist with language needs and to give Chinese staff exposure to overseas business customs, noting that none of those individuals engaged in the practice of Chinese law. In his view, that characterisation would place Zacharia's arrangement closer to a compensated internship than a formal legal role.
Sida Liu, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong whose research focuses on mainland legal systems, argued that the "associate" label as applied to Zacharia carries the potential to mislead, given that foreign nationals working inside Chinese law firm offices on the mainland are not granted PRC lawyer status — a qualification that under Chinese law is reserved for citizens — and that the title therefore warrants scrutiny.
