Law Department

Legal and Insurance Johnson, Danielson join Shapiro Sher law firm Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler admitted Erin E. Johnson and Paul V. Danielson as associates in the Baltimore-based regional law firm. Johnson, formerly with the Washington firm of Gilbert Heintz & Randolph, is assigned to the litigation department and will counsel clients on insurance and securities-related matters. Danielson will advise on insolvency and Chapters 7 and 11 filings in the firm's bankruptcy department. He formerly was with the Columbus, Ohio, firm of Kegler, Brown, Hill & Ritter.

Renters who face eviction in Baltimore because their landlords are in foreclosure would be notified and would have more time to move under a bill advanced yesterday by a City Council committee. Officials with Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration, which sponsored the measure, said the bill is intended to prevent tenants from being notified of a foreclosure for the first time when a sheriff's deputy arrives to evict them. The proposal, which was approved unanimously by a council committee and is expected to win full approval this year, could prove particularly important if the number of foreclosures continues to rise, proponents said.

A week after approving $250,000 in legal fees to defend Baltimore public works officials, Board of Estimates members are questioning a Law Department proposal to spend $500,000 for another case.The issue has been placed on the board's "nonroutine" agenda for debate today. The city has spent $300,000 in the civil suit against the city by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland Department of the Environment, which filed a complaint over excessive dumping at the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant and Ashburton Water Filtration Plant.

An assistant Baltimore solicitor took personal leave to represent his boss's wife in a private legal matter during city business hours, according to city records obtained by The Sun yesterday.The assistant, Harry L. Chase, previously refused to authorize release of any payroll records to the newspaper to support his claim that he took a half-day of vacation on Sept. 13 -- the day he represented the wife of City Solicitor Neal M. Janey before the city elections board.But after prodding from Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, Mr. Chase granted permission for the law department to release one payroll document for the hours he worked Sept.

After months of defending the large amount of city legal work being done by private law firms, Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke said yesterday that he now wants to have the city's own legal staff take on more of the load again.Mr. Schmoke disclosed in late July that the city had paid nearly $18 million in taxpayer funds for legal work by private firms during the preceding 4 1/2 years, including $2 million to Shapiro and Olander, the firm of his top two political advisers.The millions spent on legal work outside the city's Law Department, which has a staff of 78 and an annual budget of $10 million, became an issue in the just-concluded Democratic mayoral primary.

If you've got a modem, you've got a lawyer. Venable, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti has opened a branch office in cyberspace.The prestigious Baltimore-based law firm recently hung out an electronic shingle as a publisher on the Internet -- making articles by its lawyers available worldwide to users of the far-flung network of computer networks.Attorney Kenneth C. Bass III, a partner in Venable's Washington office who spearheaded the effort, says the electronic publication lets the firm showcase its talents and technological sophistication without the type of "blatant advertising" that would be contrary to the old-line firm's traditions.

Hours after City Council President Mary Pat Clarke publicly criticized the mayor for allowing a tough new curfew bill to languish unsigned for nearly a month, administration officials announced yesterday that he is expected to sign the measure when he returns from vacation today.The bill -- which received final council approval June 27 -- requires children under age 17 to be off the streets by 11 p.m. weeknights and by midnight Saturday and Sunday. Police can take violators to their homes or to designated holding facilities.

Baltimore's Public Works Department failed to properly supervise a Little Italy demolition contract that cost city taxpayers an extra $1 million, according to a newly completed audit. City Comptroller Joan M. Pratt's audit, obtained by The Sun, lends credence to criticism that former city Department of Public Works leaders permitted millions of dollars in contract overruns. In 1998, Phipps Construction Contractors Inc. outbid three other companies to demolish the former Montebello Brand Inc. distillery at 400 S. Central Ave. and 1205 Bank St. to build a city parking garage.

A City Council committee is expected to vote today on a bill that would allow Baltimore bars and restaurants to increase - in some cases to double - the number of video poker machines and other amusement devices they operate. The bill also would eliminate the rights of neighbors to protest the addition of the devices, some of which have been linked to illegal gambling. If the committee approves the measure, it will move to the full council. The bill was introduced last year at the request of the Baltimore Licensed Beverage Association, and is under consideration by the Land Use and Transportation Committee, which is chaired by Councilman Edward L. Reisinger.

Baltimore has disbanded its lead-paint abatement demonstration crew and laid off eight workers, citing fears that the city could be sued for improperly de-leading a home that might come to be occupied later by a lead-poisoned child.Housing Commissioner Robert W. Hearn said in a statement issued yesterday that the city is "taking this step to avoid the possibility of liability actions stemming from abatement operations."Lead poisoning is a health hazard that may threaten as many as 30,000 Baltimore youngsters.