Equal Justice Council honors Ben Civiletti

Ben Civiletti (left), Wilhelm Joseph, Chief Judge Robert M. Bell (right)

Former U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti (and retired partner and past chair at Venable) was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Equal Justice Council, the private-bar fundraising arm of Maryland Legal Aid.

“I’ve known Ben longer than anyone in this room,” said EJC co-chair Benjamin Rosenberg to a group of 35 partners from large Baltimore firms. “I was a summer clerk in 1968 and Ben wasn’t even a partner yet at Venable — but he was the leader of his peers and senior lawyers. In 1977, he went to Washington, and I became a partner. It felt like being a member of the Colts and Unitas had just left!”

Accepting the award, Civiletti, 77, said Maryland is fortunate to have leaders such as Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, Legal Aid executive director Wilhelm Joseph and the EJC.

“They help people who need our help desperately,” Civiletti told the lawyers. “They stepped up when others stepped down. Ask yourself this question: Could we have any semblance to equal justice in Maryland without Legal Aid?”

To read the entire Daily Record article (behind a pay wall), click here.

Attorney Benjamin L. Crump speaks at annual Equal Justice Council Breakfast

Benjamin L. Crump

Benjamin Crump, a Tallahassee, Fla. attorney who has handled many high-profile cases—including representing the family in the Trayvon Martin murder case in Sanford, Fla.—was the featured speaker at the Equal Justice Council’s 15th Annual Awards and Recognition Breakfast yesterday at M&T Bank Stadium.

“Most of the cases my firm represents are for little people,” said Crump, who is chairman of the board of Legal Services of North Florida (a sister organization of Maryland Legal Aid) and donated $1 million to its capital campaign. “You don’t do things for the result, but because it’s the right thing to do. As lawyers, we need to take our educations out to benefit people who need help—or that education means nothing. Our finest hour is taking the call. It’s about answering the bell when it’s not a popular thing to do—not only for paying clients, but for people who don’t have money.” The EJC is the private-bar fundraising arm of Maryland Legal Aid.

15th Annual Equal Justice Council Recognition Breakfast is May 23

The Equal Justice Council is pleased to announce its 15th Annual Recognition Breakfast honoring supporters of Maryland Legal Aid. The breakfast is Wednesday, May 23, 7:45 – 9:00 a.m., in the Southeast Lounge Level of M & T Bank Stadium (a new location).

This year’s honorees are: Jessica A. duHoffmann, Esq.; Brown, Goldstein & Levy; Law Offices of Peter T. Nicholl; DLA Piper and Venable LLP.  The featured speaker will be Benjamin Crump, Esq., Chairman of Legal Services of North Florida.

This is a complimentary event, but reservations are required. Contact agilmore@mdlab.org or call 410-951-7759.

Managing Partners Breakfast kicks off Equal Justice Council fall campaign

Managing partners from leading Baltimore law firms met Thursday morning for the Equal Justice Council’s annual fundraising kick-off, held at the offices of Rosenberg│Martin│Greenberg.

EJC co-chairs John Wolf of  Ober│Kaler and Ben Rosenberg urged the 25 senior attorneys at the breakfast meeting to support Maryland Legal Aid. “In 2010, Legal Aid had 62,000 cases, representing people who had reached the end of their string—out of work and desperate,” Rosenberg said. “We’re asking you to remember that we all hold a privilege, a license to practice law that carries an obligation.  If we don’t help people who can’t access the justice system, we’ll have even worse problems.”

Added Chief Judge Robert M. Bell: “I urge you to assist Legal Aid, which will improve the legal system and help the courts, which are seeing a surge in unrepresented litigants. I thank the members of the Equal Justice Council for their good work to help ensure adequate representation in the courts.”

In the photo (left to right): Alan Garten of Fedder & Garten, Martin Fletcher of Whiteford Taylor & Preston  and Jon Laria of Ballard Spahr.

Baltimore, Memphis mayors speak at Equal Justice Council recognition breakfast

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Memphis Mayor A C Wharton were the featured guests at Wednesday’s 14th Annual Equal Justice Council Recognition Breakfast at Camden Yards. Rawlings-Blake said she was “excited to celebrate Legal Aid’s centenary. I began my career at Legal Aid, where I worked with the city’s most vulnerable citizens.”

Wharton, who has also served at the head of civil and public defender programs in the Memphis area, said “I can’t believe  the Maryland private bar’s  support for legal services. It’s amazing!”

Pointing out that at the end of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt established a “second” Bill of rights that included a right to housing, health care and employment, Wharton called them “the little things you take for granted. But they’re not protected by the Constitution–and that’s where lawyers come in. . . . The purpose of the law is to protect the powerless from the powerful. . . . As FDR observed in the waning days of the war, there is no security anywhere, no peace anywhere, if a third, or a fifth or a tenth of those here at home are ill-fed, ill-clothed, not housed, not educated. Who does that responsibility fall to? A lawyer you can go to. . . . There will be no security, no peace unless we breath life into the slogan ‘equal justice under law.’ And that requires a passion. . . . Remember this: a profession without passion brings nothing but pain.”

The awardees: Paul D. Bekman of Salsbury, Clements, Bekman, Marder & Adkins and Scott A. Livingston of Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver (Champions of Justice awards). The Equal Justice Associates’ Leadership award went to Lisa Hall Johnson of Dickstein Shapiro and the Pacesetter awards  to Ober Kaler and Whiteford, Taylor & Preston. This year’s Trailblazers are DLA Piper, Miles & Stockbridge and Venable. The Executive Director Awards were given to EJC co-chairs Andrew Jay Graham and Benjamin Rosenberg.

Equal Justice Council celebrates 14 years of helping the underrepresented

Founded in 1997 as the fundraising arm of Maryland Legal Aid, the Equal Justice Council has raised more than $11 million from the private bar to help balance the scales of justice for disadvantaged Marylanders in family, housing, public benefits and other critical areas of civil law.

Who are these people? And why do they take time to raise money for Legal Aid (which is celebrating its centennial)?

“I view supporting Legal Aid and its efforts as a professional responsibility,” said Andrew Jay Graham, a founding partner of Kramon & Graham and an EJC co-chair.

To read the rest of this “Of Service” column in The Daily Record, click here.

Awardees named for Equal Justice Council recognition breakfast

The Equal Justice Council, the fundraising arm of Maryland Legal Aid, announced this year’s awardees to be honored at its annual recognition breakfast at Camden Yards on May 25. The guest speaker is the Hon. A C Wharton, Jr., Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee.

Paul D. Bekman of Salsbury, Clements, Bekman, Marder & Adkins and Scott A. Livingston of Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver will be given Champions of Justice awards. The Equal Justice Associates’ Leadership award goes to Lisa Hall Johnson of Dickstein Shapiro and the Pacesetter awards will be given to Ober Kaler and Whiteford, Taylor & Preston. This year’s Trailblazers are DLA Piper, Miles & Stockbridge and Venable.

The event is Wednesday, May 25 at 7:45 a.m. in the Camden Yards Banquet Room, 6th floor. Free parking is provided on Stadium Lot C. While the event is free, reservations are required by May 11. Call 410/951-7759 or email agilmore@mdlab.org.

Private bar contributions to Legal Aid break record

With Maryland Legal Aid’s 100th birthday right around the corner, the Equal Justice Council concluded a record-breaking 2010 annual giving campaign.

“We’re looking to build on that for Legal Aid’s centennial in 2011,” said EJC co-chair Benjamin Rosenberg. The E JC, the fundraising arm of Legal Aid, consists of private attorneys who personally contacted law firms in Maryland to enlist their support.

The outstanding individuals and firms who were part of the campaign will be honored at the 14th Annual EJC Recognition Breakfast on May 25.

Legal Aid, a private nonprofit law firm, is the largest provider of free civil legal help to low-income Marylanders, the elderly, and abused and neglected children, with 13 offices around the state.

Chief judge urges managing partners at top firms to support Legal Aid

 

Maryland District Court Judge Ben C. Clyburn

 

Maryland District Court Chief Judge Ben C. Clyburn told 30 managing partners of the state’s top law firms that the legal system is “facing a crisis.” He spoke at Wednesday’s 4th annual Managing Partners Breakfast, sponsored by the Equal Justice Council, the fundraising arm of Maryland Legal Aid. The meeting was hosted by Miles & Stockbridge.

Referring to the recession and decreases in funding for civil legal services, the chief judge added, “In 30 years I’ve not seen a situation like this. We’re facing the perfect storm. At district court,  70 to 80 percent of litigants appear without legal representation. We really have a gap in justice. That’s why I’m asking you to support Legal Aid.”

Clyburn said the judicial system faces “irreparable harm.”

“The confidence and trust of the people will be impacted and we won’t be able to meet our core mission, the fair administration of justice,” Clyburn said. “As a profession, you must stand up and do your fair share by helping Marylanders who can’t help themselves.”

Managing partners and firm representatives at the meeting: EJC co-chair Philip M. Andrews (Kramon & Graham), Rignal W. Baldwin, Jr. (Baldwin, Kagan & Gormley, LLC), James Bartlett III (Semmes, Bowen & Semmes), Michael Baxter (Baxter, Baker, Sidle, Conn & Jones, P.A.), C. Christopher Brown ( Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP), William E. Carlson ( Shapiro, Sher, Guinot & Sandler, P.A.),
Darlene Davis (Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver), Jessica duHoffmann (Miles & Stockbridge, P.C.), Robert Ferguson (Ferguson, Schetelich & Ballew, P.A.),
John B. Frisch (Miles & Stockbridge, P.C.), Alan F. M. Garten (Fedder & Garten, P.A.), Yale Ginsburg (Adelberg, Rudow, Dorf & Hendler, LLC), EJC co-chair Andrew Jay Graham (Kramon & Graham, P.A.), Barry Greenberg (Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, LLP), Kelly Tubman Hardy (DLA Piper US LLP), Peter Keith (Gallagher, Evelius & Jones, LLP), Kevin Kelehan (Carney, Kelehan, Bresler, Bennett & Scherr), Albert Mezzanotte, Jr. (Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, L.L.P.), Charles O. Monk II (Saul Ewing LLP), William H. Murphy, Jr. (The Murphy Firm), EJC co-chair Benjamin Rosenberg (Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, LLP), Sanford Schreiber (Blades & Rosenfeld, P.A.), Steven Silverman (Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White), Howard Stevens (Wright, Constable & Skeen, L.L.P.), Steven Thomas (Thomas & Libowitz, P.A.), Raymond Truitt (Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP), Thomas J.S. Waxter, III (Goodell, DeVries, Leech & Dann, LLP), Jeffrey Wothers (Niles, Barton & Wilmer, LLP), and Jefferson V. Wright (Miles & Stockbridge, P.C.).

Assistant U.S. AG Tony West addresses Equal Justice Council breakfast

Tony West, assistant attorney general of the civil division in the U.S. Dept. of Justice (left, with Maryland Legal Aid executive director Wilhelm Joseph), spoke at the 13th Annual Equal Justice Council Awards & Recognition Breakfast at Camden Yards May 20. “I’m especially glad to join you in honoring the important work of the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau and Equal Justice Council this morning,” West told 175 judges, lawyers, law professors, political leaders and other legal professionals. “You provide this community with needed legal services, you secure access to justice by facilitating access to our courts, you provide hope to many who have lost it. In short, you make real the promise Adlai Stevenson spoke of when he observed that ‘the essence of democracy is the dignity of [the individual].’”

West also spoke about the “courage to care.”

“It’s the courage of Odella Oliver, a senior paralegal here at the Bureau, whose persistence in demonstrating that the Social Security Administration had been wrong in terminating a client’s benefits ensured that a 10-year-old child suffering from severe mental disability would continue to receive her childhood SSI disability benefits,” West said. “Or staff attorney Melissa Kilmer who helped protect an elderly client from falling victim to a simple mortgage fraud scheme that could have resulted in foreclosure of the woman’s home. Or any of the award recipients we honor this morning whose examples are inviting all of us to be our best selves.”

Others on hand at the annual event included Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, Baltimore City Circuit Court judges Pamela J. White (the event’s emcee) and Robert B. Kershaw, Rep. John P. Sarbanes (D-Md.), and Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler. This year’s award recipients: F. Paul Bland, Michelle J. Dickenson, Neil E. Duke, and Goldman & Minton P.C. (Champion of Justice awards); Erek Barron (Equal Justice Associates’ Leadership Award); Quinn, Gordon & Wolf (Pacesetter Award); DLA Piper US LLP and Venable LLP (Trailblazer awards); and George W. McManus Jr. (Executive Director’s Award).

The Equal Justice Council, co-chaired by Andrew Jay Graham and Benjamin Rosenberg, is the private-bar fundraising arm of Maryland Legal Aid. Photo: Eric Stocklin.