Baltimore Lawyer

Bernard John "Jack" Medairy Jr., a retired Baltimore County lawyer and former member of the Maryland legislature who wrote a history of his family, died Friday of heart failure at his Rodgers Forge home. He was 89. Mr. Medairy, the son of a lawyer and an educator, was born in Baltimore and raised in Charles Village. He attended Polytechnic Institute for three years and graduated in 1940 from City College. In 1941, he was working as a hull draftsman for the shipbuilding and repair division of Bethlehem Steel Corp.

John W. Sloan, a retired partner in a Baltimore law firm who had also been active in veterans affairs for nearly 50 years, died Sunday of cancer at his home in the Winthrop House condominiums on North Charles Street. He was 84. Mr. Sloan, the son of a lawyer and homemaker, was born and raised in Cumberland. The day after graduating from Allegany High School in 1943, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. He served with Air Warning Squadron No. 1 in the Pacific and participated in the Enewetok Atoll, Marshall Island, Okinawa, Le Shima and Toro Shima campaigns.

Samuel Summers Field III, a Baltimore attorney and Baltimore Circuit Court auditor, died of heart failure Feb. 13 at his home in the Pinehurst neighborhood of Baltimore County. He was 77. Mr. Field, who had been a familiar figure in downtown legal circles and courthouses for more than 40 years, was born in Baltimore and raised in Govans. His grandfather, Samuel Summers Field Sr., had been a law partner of Baltimore Mayor James H. Preston and served as Baltimore city solicitor from 1911 to 1919.

Brig. Gen. Philip Sherman, a Baltimore attorney and Sherlock Holmes fan whose career with the Maryland National Guard spanned more than four decades, died of heart failure yesterday at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital. The longtime Pikesville resident was 80. General Sherman was born in Baltimore, the son of Abe Sherman, a well-known newsstand and bookstore owner, and Ann F. Sherman, a homemaker. He was raised in the Easterwood Park neighborhood and graduated from Polytechnic Institute in 1945.

Robert P. "Bear" Schlenger Sr., a retired Baltimore attorney and lacrosse enthusiast, died Monday of Alzheimer's disease at Edenwald retirement community in Towson. He was 75. Born in Baltimore, Mr. Schlenger was raised on Liberty Heights Avenue. He was a 1949 graduate of the Severn School and played midfield and attack on the varsity lacrosse team at the University of Virginia. After earning his bachelor's degree in 1953, he served in the Navy aboard the destroyer USS Leary in the Atlantic.

Peter G. Angelos built one fortune out of asbestos. He earned a second off Big Tobacco. Could he build yet a third out of arsenic? If he doesn't, it won't be for lack of trying. The Baltimore lawyer, who parlayed his cutting-edge role representing workers who were exposed to asbestos into the ownership of the Baltimore Orioles, has placed advertisements in The Sun trolling for possible clients who might have been harmed by arsenic in South Baltimore's Swann Park. "If you or members of your family have regularly visited Swann Park or have lived near Swann Park, you may wish to consult an attorney," says the Angelos ad, which also offers a "no-charge consultation."

Franklin G. Allen Jr., a retired lawyer and World War II veteran who participated in the historic Remagen Bridge crossing over the Rhine River in 1945, died Monday of myeloma at the Broadmead retirement community in Cockeysville. The former Roland Park resident was 90. Mr. Allen was born in Baltimore and raised in Roland Park. He was a 1934 graduate of Gilman School and earned a bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1938. After graduating from Yale University Law School in 1941, Mr. Allen clerked for Judge Morris A. Soper of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for six months.

Irwin Robert Cohen, an attorney who owned a chain of movie theaters and had been in the entertainment business for more than seven decades, died of Alzheimer's disease complications Thursday at the Jewish Convalescent and Nursing Home. The Pikesville resident was 82. Born in Baltimore and raised near Druid Hill Park, he got into the movie exhibition business at the age of 8, when his father began running the old Leader Theater on South Broadway. "My husband started watching the back door so no one could sneak in," said his wife of 56 years, the former Betty Wagner.

James Kemp "Jake" Fowley, a trial attorney whose door was open to troubled clients, died of esophageal cancer Friday at his Phoenix home. He was 62. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Stoneleigh, he was a 1962 graduate of Towson High School, where he won statewide awards for wrestling. He earned a bachelor's degree at Lake Forest College in Illinois and a law degree from the University of Baltimore. "We graduated from law school and realized we were too old and too independent to work for someone else," his law partner, John W. Beckley, said of their decision to form a practice in 1974.

Two Baltimore lawyers have been indicted on drug charges as part of a Baltimore County wiretap investigation that involves more than 40 defendants, including some who have been charged with being drug kingpins. Christie Pierce Needleman, 37, and Jonas Todd Needleman, 36, a married couple who live in Pikesville and work in Baltimore, each face misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to distribute OxyContin, conspiracy to possess OxyContin with the intention of distributing it, conspiracy to possess OxyContin, and marijuana possession.