Lawyer

For Michael Meyerson, the Great Seal of the United States encapsulates the struggle over the relationship between religion and government that has become a defining characteristic of our nation. The front of the seal, with its famous eagle, olive branch and arrows of war, is entirely secular. But the reverse, in which the eye and the inscription both refer to a divine providence, is "undeniably religious," Meyerson writes. Americans are constantly reminded of that duality, since the seal has been reproduced on $1 bills since 1935.

Samuel Cook, a colorful and nationally known expert in labor law who had headed the labor department at Venable, Baetjer and Howard — now Venable LLP — died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at Keswick Multi-Care Center. He was 91. "Sam was a great leader and visionary not only in the practice of law but in union and business relations," said Maurice Baskin, a Venable colleague and labor lawyer. "He had been the dean of labor lawyers at the bar in Baltimore for many years.

A Baltimore County judge allowed the release Wednesday of the names of people who signed petitions to challenge the county's zoning maps, saying the information is "clearly a public record. " In the latest turn in a battle between developers, Circuit Judge Kathleen Cox ruled that the county board of elections should make the documents public. Referendum opponents asked for the names because they want to lay the framework for a legal challenge to the petition filings. Several development firms are funding the referendum drive while others whose projects depend on the new zoning are fighting the effort.

Marquis Jones remembers Peter Holland clearly. He's the lawyer whose work, with his law clinic students, led to the dismissal of a claim against her - a credit card debt she said she knew nothing about. "If it hadn't been for Peter and his team, I have no idea what would have happened," the Severn woman recalled, saying a debt-buying company had the wrong person and claimed it served the legal papers on her spouse. She's not married. But unlike Jones, most of those who've benefited from Holland's consumer advocacy never met him. Few of them know that in December he will receive an award for his legal work from the Maryland Legal Services Corp.

Baltimore is wasting about $400,000 every month it does not install a new phone system, a lawyer for Comptroller Joan M. Pratt argued in court Thursday. But the mayor's lawyers argued that Pratt has no legal right to sue the city because she is a city officer. Pratt and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake have been sparring for months over who should upgrade the city's phone system, leading to a war of words, an investigation by the city's inspector general and now a court battle. "The city is throwing money down the drain," said Pratt's attorney, Charles G. Bernstein, a former city judge who works for Orioles owner Peter Angelos' law firm.

Testimony wrapped up Wednesday in the federal court trial of a lawsuit accusing an Eastern Shore poultry farm and Perdue of polluting a Chesapeake Bay tributary, but a ruling isn't likely until later this year. After 10 days of hearing witnesses and legal arguments, U.S. District Court Judge William M. Nickerson directed lawyers for the Waterkeeper Alliance, Berlin farmers Alan and Kristin Hudson and the Sallisbury-based poultry company to submit post-trial statements by Nov. 14, with responses due a week later.

Taxpayers have now been billed more than $42,000 in legal fees in the gender discrimination lawsuit against Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold, who has promised to repay the sum under certain conditions. The latest invoice doubles the previous tab charged to taxpayers by Thatcher Law Firm, the private attorneys hired by the county to defend Leopold after a conflict arose. Leopold announced last week that he would repay the county if found guilty in a lawsuit that alleges he physically assaulted a former employee and orchestrated her firing when she complained about him. Leopold has denied wrongdoing in the case.

The general public has never been especially fond of lawyers or judges. When Gallup polls Americans asking what professions they view favorably and which they view negatively, the lawyers get a thumbs down every time — although, on the bright side, the federal government and the oil industry are rated considerably worse. Nevertheless, as the old saying goes, you can hate lawyers until you need one. That's when they become invaluable in allowing a family to adopt a child or prevent an innocent person from being convicted of a crime or in upholding terms of a business contract.

Alan Hudson, the farmer at the center of a environmental law case that could shake up the Eastern Shore chicken business, took the stand in federal court Wednesday to tell his side of the story. Hudson testified that as a 19-year-old, he built the chicken houses at issue in the case, on the Berlin-area farm that has been in his family for at least a century. "That was going to be my contribution to getting my foot in the door farming with them," the 37-year-old Hudson said, adding that the farm needed a new stream of revenue after its dairy closed down a few years before.

A Towson law firm has accused eight more doctors of playing a role in implanting unnecessary heart stents in patients at St. Joseph Medical Center, where cardiologist Dr. Mark Midei was accused of performing the procedure in hundreds of patients who didn't need them. The law firm of Kenny & Vettori filed claims on behalf of 39 patients this month with Maryland's Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office, which arbitrates malpractice cases. The claims are the latest in a string of legal actions against the embattled cardiologist and hospital.