Legal Aid Bureau

When Nikki Green walked into the district courthouse in Glen Burnie on a recent afternoon, she had no idea how to begin her quest to unravel a dispute over a car payment. But after sitting with an attorney designated to help people who want to tackle claims on their own, she learned what papers to file and where and when to do it, and received a briefing on court deadlines and procedures. The cost: nothing. "I knew what I wanted to do, and I didn't know how to do it," said Green, a Severna Park nurse.

An elderly mother faced foreclosure, an all too common problem for many. What was uncommon about this particular case was that the state of this mother's financial affairs was not her own doing. The woman's daughter refinanced her mortgage several times, forging signatures and pocketing thousands of dollars. Foreclosure proceedings were filed, and with notary acknowledgment of each signature, this unsuspecting mother came very near to losing her home. This very scenario played out in Maryland.

Members of the Legal Aid Bureau's Equal Justice Council started a new year of fund-raising at the organization's 1999 campaign kickoff and recognition breakfast, held in the banquet room at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.Among the 180 legal-minded early risers: Wilhelm Joseph Jr., Legal Aid Bureau's executive director; Warren Oliveri Jr., bureau board president; Decatur Miller and Paul Bekman, campaign chairs; John Eidleman and James Nolan, breakfast-committee chairs; Ben Civiletti, Pamila Brown and George McManus Jr., council members; and Judge Robert Bell, chief judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals.

A legal self-help center at the District Court in Glen Burnie is now offering free legal advice beyond Anne Arundel County, extending its reach statewide via the Internet and a call-in service launched last week. "This is a way to expand the service throughout the state," said Ben C. Clyburn, chief judge of the District Court. Two-thirds of people forgo an attorney for civil matters in District Courts, Clyburn said, many because they can't afford a lawyer. Therefore, people need access to basic legal information, the judge said.

ROSEDALE -- The Baltimore County Legal Aid Bureau will hold a community forum Friday for people with limited income to discuss their legal needs with agency lawyers. Four of the county's eight Legal Aid attorneys will take part in the meeting, from 10: 30 a.m. to 12: 30 p.m. at the Rosedale Library, 6105 Kenwood Ave.Information: 296-6705.Pub Date: 4/17/96

The National Labor Relations Board said yesterday that it has charged the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau Inc. with unfair labor practices.In a complaint filed Friday, the NLRB charged that the free legal service changed employee benefits without the agreement of the union that represents most of its attorneys and paralegals.William W. Thompson II, a Washington attorney who is representing the approximately 170 members of the Maryland Legal Aid WorkersUnion, said some members also believe managers are dragging their feet in negotiating the nonprofit bureau's first contract with the union.

Lawyers and legal assistants at the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau voted yesterday to recognize the National Organization of Legal Services Workers as their labor union, in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.The vote was 100 to 71, according to union supporters.Union organizers cited higher pay and employee participation in case management as goals in seeking affiliation with the NOLSW, which has units in 30 other states.The NLRB certified 176 employees at the 14 state offices of the bureau, which represents low-income clients, as eligible to vote.

A three-year legal battle between Maryland Legal Aid Bureau Inc. attorneys and their bosses is intensifying, paralyzing the operations of the agency that is supposed to help Maryland's disadvantaged resolve their legal disputes, attorneys in and outside of the group said yesterday.The managers of the bureau said yesterday they will appeal an administrative law judge's finding that they violated labor laws. And while union negotiators tangle with management on that front, union members are waging an internal war: The head of the Baltimore offices of the National Labor Relations Board said he will decide by tomorrow the fate of a petition by some staff members for a vote on whether to get rid of the union.

Luther G. Blackiston Jr., an attorney whose career at the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau spanned 34 years, was found dead of an apparent heart attack Jan. 18 at his Fallston home. He was 58. Born in Crumpton on the Eastern Shore, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. John's College in Annapolis and started work at the Legal Aid Bureau before his graduation from the University of Maryland School of Law. He was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1972. Part of the senior management team for Legal Aid, he served as its director of law and technology and was considered an expert in elder law. Colleagues said he used technology to help deliver legal services to the needy.

Grace L. Webb, an indefatigable champion of human and civil rights, died Thursday at Sinai Hospital of cancer. She was 51. Ms. Webb, a resident of Randallstown, served as interim chief of staff and a legislative officer for the state Department of Human Resources. Earlier, she served as chief lobbyist for the Legal Aid Bureau in Baltimore. Del. Howard P. Rawlings, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, called Ms. Webb "a consummate professional and a role model in an environment where she was the most outstanding African-American lobbyist in Annapolis.

When Nikki Green walked into the district courthouse in Glen Burnie on a recent afternoon, she had no idea how to begin her quest to unravel a dispute over a car payment. But after sitting with an attorney designated to help people who want to tackle claims on their own, she learned what papers to file and where and when to do it, and received a briefing on court deadlines and procedures. The cost: nothing. "I knew what I wanted to do, and I didn't know how to do it," said Green, a Severna Park nurse.

Andrea Leepa owns her mobile home in the Deep Run Mobile Home Park in Elkridge, but not the land it sits on. She is urging legislators to support a bill that would require mobile home park owners to notify residents and provide relocation assistance if the owner sells the land for another use. "Even though our home is called mobile, it really isn't," Leepa told lawmakers in Annapolis recently. Moving a manufactured home can cost between $10,000 and $15,000, she said, and many parks only accept homes that are fewer than 10 years old. Leepa's is 17 years old. While she's under no threat of moving right now, she worries about it. Current law says park owners must provide a relocation plan, but it is vague about what the plan must contain, said Jacob Ouslander, an attorney for the Southern Maryland office of the Legal Aid Bureau.

I t's not every day you see the top judge in the state playing the role of party photographer. Robert Bell, chief judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals, snapped shots at the annual awards reception for the Maryland Legal Services Corp., which provides civil legal assistance to low-income Marylanders. This was an evening all about the giving of one's services. "This gives us a chance to get together with grantees, judges, legislators and people who do so many good things for people who need legal aid," said F. Vernon Boozer, Maryland Legal Services Corp.

It's not every day you see the top judge in the state playing the role of party photographer. Robert Bell, chief judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals, snapped shots at the annual awards reception for the Maryland Legal Services Corp., which provides civil legal assistance to low-income Marylanders. This was an evening all about the giving of one's services. "This gives us a chance to get together with grantees, judges, legislators and people who do so many good things for people who need legal aid," said F. Vernon Boozer, Maryland Legal Services Corp.

J. Paul Bright Jr., a former partner in the Baltimore law firm of Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver and a World War II veteran, died Dec. 31 of complications of a stroke at Roland Park Place. He was 86. Mr. Bright was born in Ventnor, N.J., and raised in Wilmington, Del. He was a 1941 graduate of McDonogh School and attended Dickinson College for two years before enlisting in the Army in 1943. A cryptographer, he served in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of staff sergeant.

Ending speculation that she would run in the mayor's race, Comptroller Joan M. Pratt has quietly filed to run for re-election for city comptroller. Pratt, 55, a Democrat, has served as the city's comptroller since 1995. She currently faces no opponents. Pratt has expressed interest in running for mayor and formed an exploratory committee last year. "I think that I could be more effective in the mayor's position [than as comptroller]," she said last year. Pratt did not return calls for comment yesterday.

The champion of the new Bloomsbury Square public housing complex in Annapolis is a small woman with a big voice. When critics blasted the $6.5 million waterfront project as too nice for poor people, Janet E. LaBella reassured her clients that their promised new homes would not be taken away. When move-in was delayed repeatedly for a variety of reasons, she offered encouragement. Throughout, she fought for them. But today, after spending hundreds of hours ensuring that the 51-unit complex would became a reality, LaBella leaves her post at the helm of the Anne Arundel County office of the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau.

The cooperative center created by nonprofit organizations to reach residents in the southeast area of Howard County has a new name: North Laurel-Savage Multiservice Center. The center, in the Whiskey Bottom Shopping Center, offers help with housing, food, fuel and utilities and crisis intervention for those in need. Representatives of the Department of Social Services help residents apply for food stamps, cash assistance and medical assistance. The department joins the Community Action Council, Domestic Violence Center, Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland, FIRN, Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center and the Legal Aid Bureau in offering services at the center at 9105 All Saints Road.