Officers

Abbey G. Hairston
President

202-546-0883
aghairston@verizon.net

Gregg L. Bernstein
President-Elect

Zuckerman Spaeder LLP
100 East Pratt Street, Suite 2440
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-547-8705
gbernstein@zuckerman.com

Geoffrey H. Genth
1st Vice President

Kramon & Graham, PA
1 South Street, Suite 2600
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-752-6030
geoffrey.genth@kg-law.com

Linda Hitt Thatcher
2nd Vice President

Thatcher Law Firm
Bellepoint Office Park
7849 Bellepoint Drive
Greenbelt, Maryland 20770
301-441-1400
lht@thatcherlaw.com

James R. Hammerschmidt
Secretary

Paley, Rothman, Goldstein, Rosenberg & Cooper, Chtd.
4800 Hampden Lane
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
301-656-7603
jrh@paleyrothman.com

Gerard J. Gaeng
Treasurer

Rosenberg | Martin | Greenberg,LLP
25 South Charles Street, Suite 2115
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-727-6600
ggaeng@rosenbergmartin.com

Henry Eigles
National Delegate

10729 Evening Wind Court
Columbia, MD 21044
410-730-1195
eiglesh@eiglesattorney.com

Sharon A. Snyder
Chair, Board of Governors

Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver
120 East Baltimore Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-347-7379
sasnyder@ober.com

Cyril V. Smith, III
Past-President

Zuckerman Spaeder LLP
100 E. Pratt Street, Floor 2440
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-332-0514
csmith@zuckerman.com

Board of Governors

Hon. Nancy V. Alquist
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the
District of Maryland
U.S. Courthouse
6500 Cherrywood Lane, Suite 300
Greenbelt, MD 20770
301-344-3660
Judge_Alquist@mdb.uscourts.gov

Hon. James K. Bredar
US Magistrate Judge
101 West Lombard Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-962-0950
judge_james_bredar@mdd.uscourts.gov

Marie Celeste Bruce
Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver, LLC
6305 Ivy Lane, Suite 500
Greenbelt, MD 20770
301-345-7700
cbruce@rlls.com

Joseph M. Fairbanks
Saul Ewing, LLP
100 S. Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-332-8726
jfairbanks@saul.com

Martin T. Fletcher, Jr.
Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP
7 Saint Paul Street, Suite 1400
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-347-8700
mfletcher@wtplaw.com

Stephanie L. Gallagher
Assistant United States Attorney
36 South Charles Street, 4th Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-209-4893
stephanie.gallagher@usdoj.gov

James M. Greenan
McNamee, Hosea, Jernigan, Kim, Greenan
& Walker, PA
6411 Ivy Lane, Suite 200
Greenbelt, Maryland 20770
301-441-2420
jgreenan@mhlawyers.com

Gerald W. Heller
Linowes & Blocher LLP
Suite 800
7200 Wisconsin Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
301-961-5178
gheller@linowes-law.com

Robert W. Hesselbacher, Jr.
Wright, Constable & Skeen
100 N. Charles Street, 16th Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-659-1317
rhesselbacher@wcslaw.com

Steven P. Hollman
Hogan & Hartson, L.L.P.
555 13th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004-1109
202-837-5672
sphollman@hhlaw.com

Dale P. Kelberman
Miles & Stockbridge
10 Light Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
410-385-3608
dkelberman@milesstockbridge.com

Debra Lawrence
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
10 South Howard Street, Third Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
(410) 962-4349
debra.lawrence@eeoc.gov

James D. Mathias
Piper Rudnick, LLP
6225 Smith Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21209
410-580-4208
james.mathias@dlapiper.com

Kathleen McDermott
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
Suite 600 East Tower
1301 K Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005-3364
202-408-3274
kmcdermott@sonnenschein.com

Roann Nichols
Assistant United States Attorney
36 South Charles Street, 4th Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-209-4827
roann.nichols@usdoj.gov

James J. Nolan, Jr.
Baltimore County Office of Law
Old Courthouse 2nd Floor
400 Washington Avenue
Towson, Maryland 21204
410-887-4420
jnolan@co.ba.md.us

Lee Bryan Rauch
Tydings & Rosenberg LLP
100 East Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21202-1009
410-752-9745
lrauch@tydingslaw.com

Stanley J. Reed
Lerch Early Brewer Chtd.
Suite 460
Bethesda Metro Center
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
301-986-1300
sjreed@lerchearly.com

Dawn M.B. Resh
Rosenberg | Martin | Greenberg,LLP
25 South Charles Street, Suite 2115
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-727-6600
dresh@rosenbergmartin.com
Young Lawyers Representative

Rod J. Rosenstein
United States Attorney
36 South Charles Street, 4th Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-209-4800
rod.rosenstein@us.doj.gov

Michael Schatzow
Venable, Baetjer and Howard, LLP
Suite 1800
2 Hopkins Plaza
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-244-7400
mschatzow@venable.com

Gloria Wilson Shelton
Chief Counsel
Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund
1750 Forest Drive
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
(410) 269-4984
gshelton@oag.state.md.us

Ronald Jay Tenpas
Assistant United States Attorney
36 South Charles Street, 4th Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
(410) 209-4800
ronald.tenpas@us.doj.gov

Jerrold J. Thrope
Gordon Feinblatt Rothman Hoffberger & Hollander LLC
The Garrett Building
233 E. Redwood Street
Baltimore, MD 21202-3332
(410) 576-4295
jthrope@gfrlaw.com

Stephanie Lane Weber
Office of the Attorney General
200 St. Paul Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-576-6340
slaneweber@oag.state.md.us

James Wyda
Federal Public Defender
Tower II, Suite 1100
100 South Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-2705
410-962-3962
jim_wyda@fd.org

Paula Xinis
Assistant Federal Public Defender
6411 Ivy Lane, Suite 710
Greenbelt, Maryland 20770-4510
301-344-0600
paula_xinis@fd.org

Lynne K. Zusman
Suite 701
1818 N Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
202-659-1971
lynnezusman@aol.com

Ricardo D. Zwaig
Zwaig & Zwaig PA
Suite 204
3454 Ellicott Center Drive
Ellicott City, Maryland 21043
410-583-2184
zwaig@cavtel.net

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A Messsage from the Chapter President

We are always interested in ideas about programs that will help meet the needs of federal practitioners in this area, and of course we are also constantly looking for volunteers to help put those programs together. Please contact me if you have ideas or would like to volunteer. If you have something you’d like to submit for our chapter newsletter, contact Lee Rauch at 410-752-9700, lrauch@tydingslaw.com; or Jim Nolan at 410-887-4420, jnolan@co.ba.md.us. We are particularly interested in receiving occasional pieces on recent cases of interest from either the District Court or the Fourth Circuit. Finally, we’re always delighted to hear from younger lawyers who would like to get involved and become more active members of the Maryland Federal District Court Bar.

Abbey G. Hairston
Maryland Chapter President

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Dear Colleagues:
Thank you for your membership and continuing support of the FBA - Maryland Chapter.

We are launching our first membership survey and need your input to make it a success. The survey is confidential and will take less than five (5) minutes to complete. Please go to the survey page and follow the survey prompts. We will report the results of this survey in the near future.

We appreciate your interest in Chapter activities.

The Officers and Board of Governors for the Maryland Chapter

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Calendar of Events

March 19, 2008
Negotiation, Mediation, and Settlement: A Discussion with Hon. Paul W. Grimm
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Location: Garmatz Courthouse, Courtroom 1A
RSVP: Please RSVP to pnothstein@zuckerman.com


 
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Recent Events

February 1, 2008
"Garner Versus . . . " The Trial of a Young Slave Mother
Presented by the Maryland Chapter of the FBA
Members of our federal court, members of Maryland state courts and esteemed counsel will re-enact the trial of Margaret Garner, a slave who escaped from capitivity with her family, hunted down by her slaveowner and law enforcement officials and tried for violatng the Fuguitive Slave Act. This true story was recently re-enacted as an opera in New York at the Lincoln Theatre and now we are bringing it to you in the federal court forum.
Time: 5:00 p.m. Reception to follow.
Location: Baltimore Federal Courthouse, 101 W. Lombard Street, Ceremonial Courtroom, First Floor
Cost: There is no charge for this event.
Registration: Seating is limited, please view flyer for registration information.

December 20, 2007
Holiday Open House for the U.S. District Court in Baltimore
Time: 3:00 - 6:00 p.m.
RSVP: President of the Maryland Chapter, Abbey Hairston, at aghairston@verizon.net on or before December 12, 2007.

November 2, 2007
Fifth Biennial Bench-Bar Conference
Time: Registration, 2:30 p.m.; Program, 3–5:30 p.m.; Reception, 5:30–7 p.m.
Location: U.S. Courthouse, Baltimore
Registration: View Flyer for more details


October 12, 2007

30 YEARS LATER: HOW THE MANDEL TRIALS CHANGED MARYLAND AND THE COUNTRY
(Free Admission!)


The FBA Maryland Chapter and the University of Maryland Law School have organized an outstanding program to discuss and review the trials of former Governor Marvin Mandel on federal mail fraud and racketeering charges. Many of the key participants in those trials, along with members of the media who covered them will participate in panel discussions regarding political corruption investigations, changes in lobbying laws as a result of the trials and how lobbying, politics and journalism have changed since the trials.

Andrea Mitchell, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for NBC News, who covered the trial and its aftermath and Barry Rascovar, columnist for The Gazette of Politics and Business and a commentator for WYPR's "Inside Maryland Politics" will participate along with Maryland Judges, Attorneys and Lobbyists to provide a unique examination of how the Mandel trials impacted Maryland politics and influenced how political corruption investigations are conducted.

This is a rare opportunity for our members that should not be missed!!! This event is being held at the University of Maryland Law School, 500 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD. The program begins at 1:00 p.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m. There are limited available seats remaining. If you would like to attend, please contact Cecilia Reilly at Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, (410) 332-0444; creilly@zuckerman.com.

July 20, 2007
Brown Bag Luncheon with Chief Judge Benson Everett
Legg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland for Summer Associates and Law Clerks
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: 101 W. Lombard Street, Baltimore, Md.
Registration: Because space is limited (50 attendees) at each luncheon, have the representative from your firm RSVP to Ann Cahill, judicial assistant to Chief Judge Legg, at (410) 962-0723. The court will provide water, sodas and cookies for each luncheon; the summer associates and law clerks should bring their own lunches.


June 7, 2007
Annual Dinner

Sponsored by the Maryland Chapter
Speaker: Nina Totenberg, National Public Radio's award-winning legal affairs correspondent. 
We are privileged to have Nina Totenberg address the FBA. One of the premier reporters on legal matters and especially the Supreme Court, Totenberg's reports air regularly on National Public Radio's critically acclaimed newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition. Totenberg received the 1991 George Polk Award for excellence in journalism, as well as the Joan S. Baron Award for excellence in Washington-based national affairs/public policy reporting. She has received many other awards, and has been honored seven times by the American Bar Association for excellence in legal reporting. She has also reported extensively on the career of Justice Harry Blackmun, particularly after his papers were opened by the Library of Congress.
This should be a great event for FBA members.  We hope you can attend.  Additional details will follow. Contact Sharon A. Snyder, sasnyder@ober.com.


April 27, 2007
An Introduction to the Federal Courthouse and Special Admissions Ceremony to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
Time: 1:30–4:30 p.m. (Registrants must be at the Courthouse by 1:00 p.m.)

Location: U.S. Courthouse, Courtroom 4-C, 6500 Cherrywood Lane, Fourth Floor, Greenbelt, Md.
Registration: Download flyer with registration form.

April 13, 2007 
Wine and Cheese Tasting

Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Corks Restaurant, 1026 South Charles Street, Baltimore, Md.
Cost: $15 FBA members; $30 nonmembers
Registration: RSVP to Jessica Straw, (410) 949-1153, jstraw@zuckerman.com

February 9, 2007:
On Friday, February 9 at 9 a.m. in the Baltimore Courthouse, the FBA continued its highly successful sponsorship of the federal court’s “Open Doors” program. In the third year of this event, the FBA’s Maryland Chapter has joined forces with the federal bench to bring a real-life courtroom experience to students from six Baltimore-area high schools. Using lawyers and others to play the roles of prosecutors, defense counsel and witnesses, the presentation puts students into the jury box in front of six U.S. district magistrate and bankruptcy judges. This year’s program focused on the Supreme Court’s 2006 “knock-and-announce” decision in Hudson v. Michigan, and was led by FBA-Maryland Vice-President Geoff Genth.

February 11, 2005
: Luncheon commemorating the service of U.S. District Court Judges Joseph Young, Alexander Harvey II, and Walter Black. This function was attended by approximately 250 members of the Federal District Court Bar.

March 18, 2005: Introduction to the Federal Courthouse for New Admittees (Northern Division Courthouse in Baltimore). This annual program involves an introduction to the procedures and personnel of Maryland’s Federal Court.

April 15, 2005: Introduction to the Federal Courthouse for New Admittees (Southern Division Courthouse in Greenbelt). Same as above.

May 19, 2005: Electronic Discovery Program. This program on issues posed by electronic discovery included participation by U.S. District Court Judge Peter Messitte; Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Jillyn K. Schulze; U.S. Magistrate Judges Paul Grimm, William Connelly, and Charles Day; and several practitioners and techincal specialists.

June 3, 2005: Swearing In Ceremony and Reception at the U.S. Courthouse in Baltimore for this past year’s federal judicial law clerks.

July 14, 2005: Program and Judicial Reception for Law Firm Summer Associates at the U.S. Courthouse in Baltimore.

Friday, September 30: Pro Bono Commemorative Program & Reception. This program recognized the contributions of attorneys who have accepted court appointments to represent indigent clients in civil or criminal cases pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in the last 5 years. Professor James W. Ellis of the University of New Mexico School of Law, who successfully persuaded a majority of the Supreme Court in Atkins v. Virginia (2002) to declare that executions of mentally retarded defendants violated the Eighth Amendment, was the featured speaker. Professor Ellis was the National Law Journal's "Lawyer of the Year" in 2003.

Friday, October 21: 4th Biennial Bench-Bar Conference of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland: Co-sponsored with the Court itself and the Maryland State Bar Association's Litigation Section Council.

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Chapter News and Notes

Course Material from Federal Appellate Practice Program Still Available
We still have approximately 20 copies remaining of the course materials from the last occasion in 2003 when we presented our program on “Federal Appellate Practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.” This 156-page volume includes extensive materials about the Fourth Circuit itself, as well as a number of articles about appellate practice and procedure more generally. It should be of use to anyone who regularly handles appellate matters in either state or federal court. If you are interested in receiving a free copy, contact our Chapter President, Jeff Gray, at Jefferson.M.Gray@usdoj.gov. First come, first served.

Maryland Board of Governors Member Ronald J. Tenpas Named Associate Deputy Attorney General
We are pleased to take note that Ronald J. Tenpas, a former and now renewed member of our Board of Governors, has been named Associate Deputy Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice, beginning his work in the Deputy Attorney General’s Office on November 14, 2005.
Ron served as a member of our Board of Governors while he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Greenbelt Division of the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, where he served from 1997-2003. In 2003 he was selected by Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-Illinois) to become the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, a post he has now held for the past two years. In heading out to Illinois, Ron was following in the footsteps of his Greenbelt office colleague Jan P. Miller, whom Senator Fitzgerald had selected two years earlier as U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Illinois in Springfield. (Along with Rod J. Rosenstein, the new U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, no fewer than three U.S. Attorneys have now been selected from among the roughly twenty Assistant U.S. Attorneys [AUSAs] who served in the Greenbelt Office in the year 2000.) Upon his return to this area, we were delighted that Ron once again expressed an interest in serving on our Board, and we were delighted to accommodate him.
Ron’s latest move crowns what has already been an outstanding career in public service. A Rhodes Scholar who studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University, he then received his law degree at the University of Virginia and served as a law clerk to both Judge Louis H. Pollak of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist of the United States Supreme Court.
We’re glad to welcome Ron and his family back to this area, and wish him the best of luck in his new position!

Baltimore Sun Reports on FBA Involvement in Efforts to Construct a New Federal Jail in Maryland
A front-page story in the Baltimore Sun on Jan. 31, 2006 reported on the Maryland Chapter’s role in the renewed drive to construct a federal detention center to house the growing population of federal pre-trial detainees in Maryland, which has increased from 160 in 1995 to nearly 500 today. See “A New Push to Build Federal Jail in Maryland,” page A1. This effort is being led by our Chapter’s President-Elect, Cyril Smith, Esq. of the Baltimore office of Zuckerman Spaeder. As the article noted:
[A] working group of the Federal Bar Association’s Maryland chapter is circulating a draft report on the issue that concludes that Baltimore is the best location [for a federal detention center].
“The bottom line is, you’re paying for motel space for individuals [in county jails] when you know you’re going to have to house 500 people a day,” said Cy Smith, the Baltimore attorney leading the effort on behalf of the bar association.
“Instead of paying retail, you could build a facility yourself, make sure it’s a secure facility whose only purpose is to house federal prisoners and do it in a cost-effective way.”
His group’s draft report estimates that the legal system spends $15 million a year renting inmate space in other jails and prisons, including the state’s SuperMax prison just north of downtown Baltimore, and reimbursing marshals and defense attorneys for travel expenses.
The article went on to note that as a result of the lack of a secure, centrally located federal facility, prisoners accused of extremely serious crimes – many of whom have been ordered detained by Federal Magistrate Judges based on the risk they present of additional acts of violence – are routinely being shuttled lengthy distances all over Maryland to and from their appearances in federal court.
For more information on this issue, contact Cy Smith at csmith@zuckerman.com.

In Memoriam
George A. Brugger, 1941-2005

With sadness in his passing but pride in his accomplishments, we take note of the death on December 5, 2005 of George A. Brugger, a long-time member of the Board of Governors of the FBA’s Maryland Chapter. George was 64 years old and succumbed to a lengthy battle with cancer. He was a founding partner of Fossett & Brugger, Chartered in Silver Spring, where he practiced for 30 years. His principal practice focus was on real estate law – his Washington Post obituary noted that “he helped shape communities in Prince George’s and Charles Counties,” further adding that he “was part of a visionary group of people in the county who helped communities blossom where fields once dominated.” Beyond his law practice, however, George was distinguished by his outstanding commitment to public service and to improving the community where he lived.
He started his legal career in the 1960's working in the Justice Department, and during his years in private practice he served as head of the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corp. (1995-2001), working to attract new businesses to the area and to improve the county’s schools in the face of burgeoning population growth. He played a major role in the ultimately successful effort to construct a new federal Courthouse in Greenbelt, and among many other professional and community positions, served as a member of the Maryland Appellate Judicial Nominating Committee; a Governor of the Maryland State Bar Association; a member of the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission; and a variety of task forces for the Prince George’s County Government. His leisure-time interests included driving high-performance cars, raising exotic fish, and watching the dolphins and manatees swim behind his summer home in Vero Beach, Florida. We extend our condolences to George’s wife Ann; his three children, two stepchildren, and nine grandchildren; and to his colleagues at Fossett & Brugger.

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Chapter Newsletter

Congratulations to our newsletter editor, Sharon Snyder of Ober /Kaler, and to all who contributed to the newsletter this past year, thereby earning our chapter the Federal Bar Association’s Meritorious Newsletter Award in 2005!
We are always interested in receiving submissions for the chapter newsletter. Please contact Sharon Snyder at sasnyder@ober.com if you have an idea you’d like to discuss.

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Chapter Awards

Peter A. DiRito Award

This award commemorates the memory and contributions of Peter A. DiRito, a past chapter president, national delegate, and long-time member of the board of governors who was active in the Maryland Chapter from 1964-1987. This award is given annually “to recognize public service that comports with the goals of the chapter and Federal Bar Association,” which are defined in the FBA’s Mission Statement as “strengthen[ing] the federal legal system and administration of justice by serving the interests and needs of the federal practitioner, both public and private, the federal judiciary, and the public they serve.”
The 2005 recipient of the Peter A. DiRito Award was Donna M. Shearer, who has served as the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Supervising Attorney at the U.S. District Court since 1997. The District of Maryland’s Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Panel is a group of lawyers who provide representation at greatly reduced rates to indigents accused of crimes when the Federal Public Defender’s Officer has a conflict of interest or is otherwise unable to handle the representation. The lawyers who do this work in the District of Maryland include some of the most accomplished members of the Maryland Bar, including now-District Court Judge Richard Bennett, who was an active panel member for years before becoming the panel’s first alumnus to join the federal bench. Shearer has been responsible for managing the assignment of cases to counsel and facilitating the payment and reimbursement of counsel for their efforts. In part because of her efforts to make the process as painless as possible for the attorneys who agree to accept CJA appointments, th District of Maryland has been able to continue to attract and retain the services of many of the best private criminal attorneys practicing in this area for the CJA Panel.

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Getting Involved

If you are interested in getting more involved in the Maryland Chapter of the FBA or have an idea for a program that you would like to present, please contact any of the chapter officers.

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Related Links

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Supreme Court

Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (overall Web site for the Federal Judiciary)

U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland

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