Legal Aid Bureau

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.

In late July, a woman living at an Annapolis shelter missed a meeting when she went out to buy milk for her infant daughter. The shelter told her to leave. Then, when she sought legal recourse, it closed.The woman's plight has led to a bitter dispute between the Lutheran Mission Society of Maryland and the Legal Aid Bureau Inc., two statewide, non-profit organizations that help the poor.Worried that she would end up on the street after being told to leave, the woman turned to the Legal Aid Bureau in Annapolis to avoid being evicted.

City Hall Square soon becomes a finished reality when the Legal Aid Bureau moves to its new, 62,000-square-foot headquarters at the corner of Gay and Lexington streets, between the Fire Department headquarters and the War Memorial.This five-story building (with a parking garage) fills the last undeveloped parcel on the square, one of Baltimore's most important public spaces. The proximity of this private, non-profit law firm of last resort so close to the centers of municipal power will be a constant reminder of the many needs that prevail among the city's citizens.

From his new office on the third floor of the Legal Aid Bureau building downtown, Executive Director Charles H. Dorsey Jr. looks right into City Hall one block away. He said he can't think of a more appropriate view.It was the city government, after all, that provided the land for the new five-story building at 500 E. Lexington St., the first home the bureau has ever owned in its 81-year history."We have sued the city and the state on behalf of our clients," Mr. Dorsey said. "Yet they participated in building this."

Circuit Court Judge Dennis M. Sweeney has announced his candidacy for a 15-year term on the Howard County Circuit Court.Sweeney, 46, was appointed to the bench in April. Prior to the appointment, Sweeney was a Maryland deputy attorney general from 1984-1991. he has served as an assistant federal public defender and chief attorney of the Maryland legal Aid Bureau.

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.