Author: JGL Law

Washington DC – The 2019 edition of Washington DC, Super Lawyers magazine recently named twelve Joseph Greenwald & Laake, P.A. attorneys to its annual Washington DC, Super Lawyers lists.

The Washington DC, attorneys who made this year’s Super Lawyers list, including their primary practice areas as identified by Super Lawyers, are:

GREENBELT, MD –

• Andrew E. Greenwald – Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury
• Burt M. Kahn – Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury
• Jay P. Holland – Whistleblower, Labor & Employment, Civil Rights
• Steven M. Pavsner – Appellate, Civil Litigation, Medical Malpractice
• Timothy F. Maloney – Appellate, Civil Litigation, Civil Rights
• Walter E. Laake – Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury

ROCKVILLE, MD – 

• David M. Bulitt – Family Law, Alimony, Child Custody, Support and Visitiation 
• Jeffrey N. Greenblatt – Divorce, High Asset Divorce, Family Law
• P. Lindsay Parvis – Family Law, Alimony, Child Custody, Support and Visitiation 

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

About Joseph Greenwald & Laake

For more than 40 years, Joseph Greenwald & Laake has worked with individuals and businesses in Maryland and the District of Columbia, taking on the most complex of legal issues with sophisticated counsel and a personal touch. JGL serves clients in virtually all areas of the law.

On the weekend of April 27 and 28, 2019, many lawyers participated in the Maryland State Bar Association’s first Maryland Lawyers’ Day of Service. The MSBA teamed up with different bar associations throughout the State, including the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association, to give back to the community.

On Saturday, Maritza Carmona, as a member of the MSBA and MHBA, teamed up with several attorneys and Judge Cathy Serrette to give a “Know Your Rights” presentation to foster youth at Promise Place, which is in an emergency youth shelter in Prince George’s County.

“Everyone has certain basic rights, and ‘Know Your Rights’ presentations are a great way to educate the public about how to exercise them” said Ms. Carmona.

Ms. Carmona spoke about protections afforded under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. She also discussed how to handle interactions with law enforcement in various scenarios, such as if you are stopped by officers in a public place, your vehicle is pulled over, or officers show up at your residence. Ms. Carmona also spoke about the right to take videos and photographs during police encounters, and possible civil remedies that may be available if an individual has been subjected to police misconduct.

Last week, Ms. Carmona also participated in the Maryland Judiciary’s “Take your Son or Daughter to Work Day.” Ms. Carmona and several attorneys performed a mock trial of State v. Goldilocks for elementary school children at the Maryland Court of Appeals. The case focused on the allegations that Goldilocks entered the home of the Three Bears without permission, ate all the porridge, and broke Baby Bear’s chair. 

“Mock trials are a helpful tool to expose students to the court system.” The students served as jurors and Ms. Carmona served as defense counsel for Goldilocks. Luckily, the jury found in Goldilocks’ favor at the end!

Each year, the Maryland Court of Appeals establishes an aspirational goal of 50 hours of pro bono work for members of the Maryland Bar. “Volunteerism is a critical component of the legal profession and I’m glad to have the opportunity to give back to my community in different ways.” They are a variety of ways in which attorneys can volunteer. For example, attorneys may represent clients in pro bono cases, which means they do not charge for their services. Others may participate in legal clinics and provide legal advice to walk-in clients. Still others may give presentations to the public about their legal rights. The opportunities to volunteer are vast and limitless.

Ms. Carmona is a trial lawyer in the firm’s Civil Litigation practice group with strong experience in protecting the rights of victims in Maryland and the DC area who have suffered injustice resulting from a variety of civil rights violations, including police misconduct and excessive force.

           

Joseph, Greenwald & Laake partners Tim Maloney and Veronica Nannis were appointed as Liaison Counsel and Steering Committee plaintiffs’ counsel to represent the consumer class in the Marriott Data Breach Class Action.

The case is being litigated in federal court in Greenbelt. Maloney and Nannis were chosen to be part of a leadership team of 14 lawyers, from applications by dozens of law firms and over 300 highly qualified lawyers throughout the country.

Judge Paul Grimm of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, where the case is pending, appointed this leadership team, as well as others to lead cases against Marriott brought by financial institutions and shareholders. This is believed to be the largest data breach case to date, with potentially over 300 million class members.

More than 80 lawsuits were filed over the data breach, which Marriott International Inc. announced Nov. 30 and that compromised the personal data of 500 million guests of its Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide properties.

“We look forward to working with the other plaintiffs’ leadership counsel to bring about a fair result for the millions damaged by this data breach,” said Mr. Maloney as he and Ms. Nannis gear up help the consumer victims and hold Marriott accountable for its actions.

To read more click here.

This week, the Court of Special Appeals in Annapolis handed Joseph Greenwald & Laake’s Timothy Maloney and Alyse Prawde a victory for their client Albert’s Food Stores in a contentious contract dispute with Subway Development Corporation.

The dispute arose after Subway tried to terminate its long-standing contracts with Albert’s. Refusing to fold, Albert’s filed its own lawsuit seeking the Court’s intervention and injunctive relief. JGL argued in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County that the contract could not be terminated as Subway wanted. The trial court agreed with JGL. After the trial court opinion, Subway appealed to Maryland’s intermediate appellate court.

The Court of Special Appeals issued its opinion on April 22nd, concluding that there was no material breach by Albert’s and no basis for Subway to terminate its contracts. “Albert’s stood its ground. The Court was careful, deliberate and got this one right in favor of the little guy,” Maloney commented.

JGL is known for its civil litigation and appellate attorneys. Tim Maloney is a preeminent trial lawyer who has obtained millions of dollars in recoveries for his clients in a wide variety of matters, including civil rights, employment discrimination, whistleblower actions and high-stakes business litigation. He is a committed advocate for the public good who has held leadership roles with many civic and charitable organizations.

Alyse Prawde is a former judicial law clerk and an associate in Joseph, Greenwald & Laake’s Civil Litigation group who has significant appellate experience.

JGL attorneys, Darin Rumer & Rama Taib-Lopez are volunteers with the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) and act as a resource for family law (and other) clients who are being served through the Human Trafficking Prevention Project taking the cases of survivors of human trafficking on a pro bono basis in the local Courts where JGL attorneys regularly practice law.  

The Human Trafficking Prevention Project is launching a campaign soon to highlight the intersectionality between human trafficking and the various areas of civil law that can impact a survivor’s ability to safely and successfully move forward with their lives.

Human trafficking is a horrible crime that exists in Maryland and affects all parts of the State. Three major airports, inexpensive bus transportation, train service along the east coast, large sporting events and disposable income makes Maryland an attractive destination for traffickers. We at JGL are glad to extend our support on this important issue.

Here are some links to resources and information, as well as a video from actual survivors of human trafficking, narrated by Mira Sorvino: https://youtu.be/BmmRTjoL3R0

Darin L. Rumer is a principal in the firm’s Family Law practice group who is dedicated to providing compassionate and strategic counsel to spouses, parents and children involved in stressful family disputes throughout Maryland and the Washington, DC area. He has deep trial, appellate and settlement negotiation experience in every type of emotionally-charged family controversy his clients may encounter. He can be reached at drumer@jgllaw.com

Rama Taib-Lopez represents individuals throughout Maryland in complex family law disputes and related immigration matters that often arise involving non-citizen spouses and special immigrant juveniles. She has extensive courtroom and alternative resolution experience in every type of family law dispute and immigration proceeding her clients may encounter. She can be reached at rtaiblopez@jgllaw.com

Hotlines

• BeFree Textline
  Text HELP to 233733 (BEFREE)
  Confidential, 24/7
• National Human Trafficking Hotline
  1-888-373-7888 (TTY: 711)
• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
  1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)

Websites

• Maryland State Police
• National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC)

Resources

• Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force (MHTTF) website
• 2016 Human Trafficking Resource Directory (pdf via MHTTF)
• Workgroup to Study Safe Harbor Policy for Youth Victims of Human Trafficking
• Office for Victims of Crime “Faces of Human Trafficking” video series

Lawsuits Accused MedStar Union Memorial Hospital Surgeon of Performing Unnecessary Stent Surgeries and MedStar Health of Paying Unlawful Kickbacks

GREENBELT, MD – March 21, 2019 – MedStar Health Inc. and two of its hospitals in Baltimore, Md. have agreed to pay the United States $35 million dollars to resolve two qui tam lawsuits filed by two sets of relators. The lawsuits alleged that MedStar Union Memorial Hospital surgeon John Wang, M.D. performed medically unnecessary stent surgeries that should not have been billed to Medicare; and that MedStar paid kickbacks to a cardiology group in exchange for referrals. 

The whistleblower lawsuit alleging unnecessary stent procedures by Dr. Wang was filed by Towson, Md. based law firm, Smith, Gildea & Schmidt, and Greenbelt, Md. based law firm, Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A. That lawsuit was brought by former patients of Dr. Wang, and asserted that Dr. Wang, MedStar, and Union Memorial Hospital engaged in a practice of performing medically unnecessary coronary stent surgeries, and then submitted false claims for payment to Medicare for those procedures. 

“Coronary stent procedures are very serious and have inherent risk. They should never be performed on a patient whose medical condition does not require it,” said Jay P. Holland, a partner at Joseph, Greenwald & Laake and the lead attorney representing the whistleblowers in the case along with his partners Tim Maloney and Veronica Nannis. “The decision to perform any medical procedure, and especially a coronary procedure, should always be made based solely on the medical needs of the patient, and never on an illicit profit incentive,” added JGL’s Veronica Nannis, who along with Mr. Maloney and Mr. Holland has handled several high profile kickback cases in the past, including class actions and health care kickback qui tams.

The lawsuit alleged that symptoms and tests were fraudulently overstated in order to  justify the unnecessary stent procedure. The procedure should only be performed on patients who have a very high level of diagnosed stenosis – over 70% blockage of the arteries.

Attorney Michael Paul Smith, a partner at Smith, Gildea & Schmidt, said “the lawsuit our clients filed alleged that MedStar falsely represented the level of stenosis in patients, in order to justify performing unnecessary stent procedures, and bill Medicare for those procedures.” Smith further stated that “we are very pleased that the efforts of our clients put a stop to this dangerous practice and returned funds to the Government.”

The law firms worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baltimore, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Roann Nichols and Matthew P. Phelps. “Participation from the private bar and the federal government made this case an exemplar of the kind of private-public partnership the False Claims Act is meant to foster,” Mr. Holland said. “We are grateful for the hard work put in by all of the government attorneys and agents who brought about this resolution.”

The other connected lawsuit settled by the Government was filed by Steve Simms, Bill Gately and Al Brault on behalf of their three heart surgeon / Relators – Drs. Lincoln, McDonald and Horneffer.

Jay Holland is a Principal with the Firm, and is Chair of the Firm’s Labor, Employment and Qui Tam practice. His False Claims Act cases have resulted in recoveries of over $630 Million for the United States. His recent publications include articles for The National Law Journal, Trial Magazine, DC Trial Lawyer, and the Maryland State Bar Association Employment Law Deskbook, and has been named a Super Lawyer in DC and Maryland for the last several years. He can be reached at jholland@jgllaw.com.

Veronica Nannis is a Principal with the Firm and serves as the Chair of the Firm’s civil litigation department. A Super Lawyer’s Rising Star in DC and Maryland for the last several years, she was also awarded the Maryland Association for Justice’s Trial Lawyer of the Year Award in 2011 with the team from Joseph, Greenwald & Laake. Recent publications include those for Law 360 and the The Daily Record. She can be reached at vnannis@jgllaw.com.

Tim Maloney is a preeminent trial lawyer who has obtained millions of dollars for his clients in a wide variety of complex matters, including civil rights, employment discrimination, class actions, and business litigation. He is a permanent member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference. Mr. Maloney has served on both the Md. Appellate Nominating Commission since 2007 and has been a member of the Ethics Committee of the Maryland State Bar Association. He has been named a Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine since 2008, and one of the Best Lawyers in Washington by Washingtonian Magazine in 2011. He has been a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 2008. He can be reached at tmaloney@jgllaw.com.

Michael Paul Smith is an active trial lawyer whose practice concentrates on areas of complex civil litigation, including personal injury, class action consumer claims, individual claims against colleges and universities, products liability, medical malpractice, and business litigation. He also has numerous business clients to whom he provides business advice. Mr. Smith has successfully obtained tens of millions of dollars in settlements and jury awards in his litigation career. Mr. Smith serves on the legislative committee of the Maryland Association of Justice and lectures to other attorneys nationwide regarding trial techniques and skills. He can be reached at mpsmith@sgs-law.com.

 

There is an early 1980s song, by the band 38 Special, that informs us all to, “Hold on loosely, but don’t let go. If you cling too tightly, you gonna lose control.”

Of course, 38 Special’s intent was to dole out sage-southern-rock-romantic-relationship-advice — all prior to the adoption of the three-point line by the NCAA. Employers, however, should heed 38 Special’s advice when it comes to dealing with a different relationship— that of employer-employee and the annual NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. Employees are going to watch the tournament, check the scores, and yes have brackets. There is no point in fighting it. Doing so just creates bad morale. I suggest for employers who do not understand the passion surrounding the tournament that they review the 1980s’ Kurtis Blow song “Basketball” [later covered by Lil’ Bow Wow], whereby Mr. Blow explains, “They’re playing basketball. We love that basketball.”

As an employer, though, you cannot let the Madness completely breakdown. People get totally out of control about their sports teams, and employers cannot let that happen at work. So, consistent with (1) the wise romantic advice of an old southern-rocker from well before social media dominated the dating scene and (2) a matriculation to Mr. Blow’s school of basketball fanaticism, here are five tips to keep the Madness running smoothly:

• Keep morale up. Run an employer-sponsored pool through a known website for team building purposes. Let everyone participate, even people who do not follow college basketball at all —also known as your future winners of the tournament pool.
• Set guidelines for your brackets and watching the tournament that fit your workplace culture and comply with the law. This includes making clear that discriminatory comments and actions are not allowed and individuals who violate these policies will be disciplined.
• Be the good guy. Allow employees to watch the tournament during lunch and approved breaks in the breakroom and other approved viewing areas. That way you hopefully can stop employees from wasting time sneaking around. Employers will also reduce the drain on web servers by keeping viewing in a central location.
• For first time offenders who are caught watching the tournament inappropriately, keep the punishment appropriate to the crime. Do not punish employees too severely. That can also create bad morale.
• And finally, participate in the watching and the tournament pool. It is good for employees to see that the boss is human too. (Bonus tip: If you win the pool, donate the winnings to a pizza party or some other team building exercise for your staff— a double win.)

Follow these tips to have happy, honest employees, like Uncle Jessie and Aunt Beckie from the 1980s’ version of Full House before they became embroiled in a mid-1990’s school admission scandal. In sum, do not be the singer from 38 Special, who lost his early 1980s love. “You see it all around you. Good lovin’ gone bad. And usually it’s too late when you realize what you had.” March Madness is a golden opportunity for team building and workplace camaraderie. Do not let it be a good opportunity “gone bad.”

ROCKVILLE, MD., February –, 2019 — Joseph Greenwald & Laake P.A. is pleased to announce that Allison McFadden has been elevated to Senior Counsel.

“We are delighted to promote Allison to this highly responsible position,” said Burt Kahn, Managing Director. “Among her major contributions to the firm, she has been an outstanding advocate of the rights of our family law clients, both people of high net worth and parents with limited resources.”

Allison McFadden is a member of the Firm’s Family Law practice group. She focuses on protecting and enforcing the rights of spouses, parents and children involved in complex and emotional family law matters before courts in Montgomery County and throughout Maryland. Her practice covers every type of family law matter that impacts the lives of her clients, including divorce, child custody and visitation, child support, property division, alimony, prenuptial agreements, modifications of orders, business valuations, protective orders, and domestic violence situations.

Allison earned her J.D. in 2012, cum laude, from the University of Baltimore, and in 2007 received a B.S. degree from the University of Maryland.

About Joseph Greenwald & Laake

For more than 40 years, Joseph Greenwald & Laake has worked with individuals and businesses in Maryland and the District of Columbia, taking on the most complex of legal issues with sophisticated counsel and a personal touch. JGL serves clients in virtually all areas of the law.

Partner Jay Holland addressed a national conference on litigating the class-action cases that have been filed across the country against Marriott Corp resulting from the breach of Marriott’s data base of hotel guests’ private information, including passport numbers, birthdates, credit card numbers and other personal information.   It has been reported that as many as 500 million customers may have had their personal identifying information stolen.  The case may be the largest data breach case to date.

Dozens of leading class action lawyers attended the “Harris Martin Conference” in Miami, FL. on January 29, 2019.  Marriott is based in Bethesda, Maryland, and many of the class actions have been filed in federal court in Greenbelt, Md.  Holland was sought out to address the conference because of his expertise in litigating cases in federal court in Maryland.  A hearing was held in Miami on January 31, 2019, for the court determine which federal court will be assigned the consolidated class action.  Holland and partners Tim Maloney, Veronica Nannis, and Steven Pavsner are counsel in several of the class action cases that have been filed in Maryland against Marriott.

ROCKVILLE, MD., January 2, 2019 — Joseph, Greenwald & Laake is delighted to announce that effective January 1, 2019 four attorneys from the former Rockville, Maryland law firm of Dragga Hannon LLP, are joining our firm.

“We are thrilled to be able to add these four fantastic family law attorneys to Joseph, Greenwald & Laake.  They have distinguished themselves among the family law bar through their considerable skill in representing clients in this emotionally charged area of law,” said Burt Kahn, Managing Director. “Along with the outstanding family law attorneys already in our firm, they will form a family law practice that is unsurpassed in the Washington, DC, suburbs. This is a major step for our firm.”

The four lawyers who are joining Joseph, Greenwald & Laake are Patrick W. Dragga, Jeffrey Hannon, P. Lindsay Parvis and Amanda Frett.  They practice in all areas of family law, including divorce, custody and visitation, child support, alimony, prenuptial agreements, and many other areas.

Both Mr. Dragga and Mr. Hannon have repeatedly been listed among the DC area’s top divorce lawyers by Super Lawyers and by Washingtonian and Bethesda magazines. Mr. Dragga is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Ms. Parvis, who frequently represents children in contested custody matters, has served as a legislative liaison between the family law bar and Maryland General Assembly and is a past President of the Montgomery County Chapter of the Women’s Bar Association.  Amanda Frett is a former law clerk to the Honorable C. Philip Nichols, Jr in the Circuit Court for Prince Georges County and was selected as a Fellow of the Montgomery County Bar’s Leadership Academy.

About Joseph Greenwald & Laake

For more than 40 years, Joseph Greenwald & Laake has worked with individuals and businesses in Maryland and the District of Columbia, taking on the most complex of legal issues with sophisticated counsel and a personal touch. JGL serves clients in virtually all areas of the law.

Principal Jeffrey N. Greenblatt was quoted in the November 2018 Family Law Update publication of The Daily Record on the impact of the new federal tax law on divorce.

Under the new law, when it comes to alimony orders after January 1, 2019, payers of alimony will not be able to deduct those payments on their federal tax returns, and people who receive alimony will no longer have to declare the payments as income. The result, said Greenblatt, has been a “rush to the courthouse” to ensure that alimony payments are contained in court orders signed before the end of 2018.

But, he added, right now it may be too late to get a case before a judge prior to the change in the law. 

“The calendar is what the calendar is,” he said.

Greenblatt also said that beginning in 2019, spouses facing the prospect of paying alimony will fight hard to keep the payments low because they will not be deductible. In some cases, Greenblatt said, he has tried to secure a waiver of alimony for his client in exchange for a lump-sum settlement – but this will only be a solution in cases where there’s enough money available to pay a significant lump sum. 

He also said that no one knows now how judges will respond to the new tax treatment of alimony: Will they award less alimony since the payer can no longer take a deduction? Only time will tell.

In a major courtroom win for one of the Firm’s clients, a judge has denied a request by the state’s largest teachers’ union for a preliminary injunction to stop the reelection campaign of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan from using an apple insignia to represent his support by teachers in Maryland.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Michael Mason issued the ruling on October 1, rejecting the Maryland State Education Association’s claim that the use by the Hogan campaign of a red apple marked “Teachers for Hogan” infringed on the union’s service mark in the shape of an apple that it registered in 2009.

The judge ruled that the union did not make an adequate case that voters would in some way be confused by the Hogan campaign’s use of an apple logo in its materials.

Joseph, Greenwald & Laake principal Timothy F. Maloney told the Daily Record newspaper that he is grateful that the judge ruled as he did.

The ruling “permits the Hogan campaign and many teachers across Maryland to continue using a long-standing and universally known symbol for education, the apple, as part of their expression of support for Governor Hogan’s re-election,” Maloney said. “The court has now denied the union’s demand for an injunction twice in the last 10 days, so we hope the union end this litigation and stop using teachers’ hard-earned dues money on this litigation.”

The case began when the teachers’ union sued Hogan and his campaign after the campaign began using a bumper sticker with the phrase “Teachers for Hogan” in which a red apple was used in place of the “O” in the Hogan. The campaign also used an apple on a social media post in which it criticized the union for suing him over the use of the apple logo. The union supports Hogan’s opponent in the November election, Ben Jealous.

The denial of a preliminary injunction means, in effect, that the Hogan campaign can continue to use materials with the apple logo throughout the campaign, since a full trial on the merits of the case will almost certainly take several months to schedule.