Author: JGL Law

On the evening of May 18, JGL attorney Eleanor Hunt and the Maple Lawn Women’s Networking Group, hosted a networking event that included a special Yin Yoga session featuring a live harpist for attendees at The Pearl Spa in Maple Lawn, Fulton, MD.

Hunt is a sponsor of the event and a very involved member of the Maple Lawn Community. “These events bring women together in a local setting to provide a comfortable environment to network and to tryout new experiences such as Yin Yoga,” says Hunt. This event also featured the music of a live harpist. Hunt continues, “We come together as a community at these events and that is what is most important.” The Maple Lawn Women’s Networking Group has regular meetings in the community with various themes, activities and speakers.

Eleanor Hunt serves as senior counsel in JGL’s Family Law practice. She represents clients in divorces, adoptions, adoptions, child custody and visitation disputes, domestic violence proceedings, drafting qualified domestic relations orders, and child and spousal support matters. While Eleanor is skilled in trial and willing to go to bat for her clients, she is also a caring and cool-headed advisor who can get clients good results through negotiated resolutions.  

On May 17, Joseph, Greenwald & Laake principal Jerry Miller worked at the Bowie Business Innovation Center (Bowie BIC) with Bowie BIC clients and entrepreneurs from the Prince George’s County business community. During the event, Miller answered any legal questions attendees had in relation to expanding their business operations. Specifically, Miller advised participants on choosing proper corporate structures for their businesses and the legal challenges of owning and operating a growing business. He also advised on how to address the complex issues that confront modern entrepreneurs.

Miller and Bowie BIC have held these helpful sessions many times over the past few months. Together, Jerry and the Bowie BIC hope to accelerate the innovation, growth and job generation capacity of companies in Prince George’s County for the benefit of entrepreneurs and employees alike.

As a principal in Joseph, Greenwald & Laake’s Business Services Group, Jerry has years of experience serving business leaders. He excels not only in the legal side of business, but brings a honed business acumen to his clients’ sides. Jerry’s hands-on approach has been invaluable to his clients, many of whom have stayed with him for years.

On May 16^th, Ayuda celebrated its 45th anniversary. Ayuda is an organization that strives to assist immigrants in the Washington, DC. metropolitan area overcome obstacles to becoming a part of their surrounding community. Joseph Greenwald & Laake was a sponsor of the gala event and partner Veronica Nannis, a new Ayuda Board member, spoke at the event as well. “I am so proud of Ayuda and what the organization, the staff and the supporters have done,” Nannis said. “The immigrants in our communities cannot be forgotten or abandoned. Ayuda has long been a champion for immigrants’ rights and that is why I stand with it.”

The anniversary event, also attended by JGL staff and attorneys, included a reception and awards program to honor the dedicated men and women who have contributed to the organization’s success. Ayuda states, “We dedicate Ayuda’s 45th anniversary celebration to our community of immigrants. This event marks the beginning of a new era of strategic growth – taking us to our half-century milestone with a solemn promise that we will always help vulnerable immigrants in our community overcome barriers and achieve their dreams.”

Since it’s inauguration in 1973, Ayuda has been committed to helping low-income immigrants in and around Washington, DC It has helped over 100,000 immigrants from 104 countries by providing legal, social and language services. Nannis and other attorneys and staff from JGL recently partipcated in one of Ayuda’s free legal clinics, which helped some 50 individuals learn their immigration rights.

Nannis is a member of Ayuda’s Board, and has a history of working with the organization. Last year she hosted an educational welcome breakfast and co-sponsored Ayuda’s 44th Anniversary event.

Joseph Greenwald & Laake congratulates Ayuda on another successful year!

JGL is please to announce Levi Zaslow has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine and Thomson Reuters. Only 5% of attorneys receive this honor each year. Congratulations Levi! 

As senior counsel in Joseph, Greenwald & Laake’s Civil Litigation practice group, Levi Zaslow focuses his practice on Employment Law, Commercial Litigation, Government Litigation, and Appellate Litigation in Maryland and the District of Columbia. A skilled and experienced litigator, Levi enjoys the variety of work his fast-paced litigation practice provides, including drafting motions and conducting legal research, taking depositions, and performing in court and at trial.

Click below for more on Levi. 

Tim Maloney recently served as host for a special event to discuss a memoir by his good friend and colleague former Maryland Senator Joseph D. Tydings. Tim has known Tydings since he campaigned for Senate in Prince George’s County in 1964. At the event, Tim Maloney included some his own memories as he teed up questions for Joe Tydings and his co-writer and former Sun reporter, John W. Frece. The memoir, “My Life in Progressive Politics: Against the Grain,” is surprisingly timely. Tydings looks back on a life of public service, from the Maryland General Assembly to chief federal prosecutor in Maryland and ultimately to the United States Senate.

The celebration took place at the University of Maryland’s Samual Riggs IV Alumni Center and included about 80 attendees. “It was a true honor to be a prominent part of such a remarkable event,” stated Maloney. “Tydings has had a wonderful influence on both my personal and professional life,” he continued.

Tydings’ book, titled “My Life in Progressive Politics: Against the Grain,” was published in late April and documents his career as he fought for progressive issues like gun control, healthcare and environmental protection.

William F. Zorzi provides a detailed and personal description of the celebration in an article found on Maryland Matters, a website that delivers news about Maryland government and politics. In this article, he shares, “The session was anything but a melancholy occasion; it was at times hysterically funny, rather than some sort of lament for the past.” To read more about the event, click here.

(Photo cred: Washington Post)

Joseph Greenwald & Laake is pleased to announce the hiring of our newest associate attorney, Michael Joseck. Michael will join the firm’s Estate and Trusts practice, and will provide counsel to individuals on matters in estate planning, estate and trust administration, and estate and trust taxation issues.

Michael is a proud graduate of the Western Michigan School of Law. While in law school, he was a member of the Moot Court, the Tax Law Society, and he volunteered in preparing tax returns for low-income individuals through the VITA program. Before joining JGL, he was the Chief Auditor for the Howard County Register of Wills. While there, he oversaw the estate audit department and the unique Maryland Inheritance Tax. He has also worked for a Delaware trust company and an accounting firm.

“We are proud to have hired an associate with such strong experience as Michael,” managing director Burt Kahn said. “We are very excited to add him to our Estates and Trusts team.”

Please join us in welcoming Michael to the JGL team.

           

The prominent legal practice and management report Of Counsel recently interviewed several attorneys, including Joseph, Greenwald & Laake principal Brian J. Markovitz to discuss the current trends of class action litigation. While Northern California is currently seeing an uptick in employment class action suits for wage-and-hour and equal employment opportunity, Markovitz shared that he is experiencing a growing number of labor and employment class action suits in the Washington, DC area, especially in the construction industry. In these cases, Markovitz says that employers tend to hire workers of Hispanic descent and do not pay them correctly or at all.

“Many construction companies hire them to do the work and then flat-out don’t pay them,” Brian told Of Counsel. “Given the current political climate, a lot of these employers think it’s easy to leverage them.”

Of Counsel also captured Brian’s perspective on class action suits in the information security sector, given the recent prevalence of high-profile data breaches. “We think there will be an explosion of lawsuits for negligence involving data breaches,” Brian predicted. “There are various state-law statutes that allow people to be what they call ‘private attorneys general’…It’s an up-and-coming area. We are gearing up for that and intend to be on the forefront of it.”

As principal in Joseph, Greenwald & Laake’s Labor and Employment and Civil Litigation practice groups, Brian has extensive experience representing clients in labor cases. He has won his clients numerous highly profitable settlements and has been honored as one of the nation’s top 100 trial lawyers for his work

To read the article in full, please click the Of Counsel logo below.

On May 7, Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal attorney Timothy Maloney argued in the Maryland Court of Appeals regarding whether or not a state agency supervisor’s personal notes about an employee are required to be disclosed to a worker under the Maryland Public Information Act. The Court heard competing slippery-slope arguments about the case.

Maloney argued that the MPIA’s transparency would be violated if supervisors could place their personnel information in a private folder and exempt them from disclosure by labeling them as private. However, the opposing side argued that compelling disclosure would invade privacy of supervisors.

The issue stems from the case of Bernadette Lamson, an employee of the Montgomery County attorney’s office, is entitled to the personal notes her employer kept in her personal moleskin journal. The Montgomery County Circuit Court and the intermediate Court of Special Appeals have upheld the denial of Lamson’s MPIA request

Maloney said, “There is only one reason she took those notes. She was acting a public government supervisor.”

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.

To read the article, click here.

 

Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal attorney Timothy Maloney spoke at the Court of Appeals on May 7 regarding a case in which the General Assembly withheld the salaries of acting Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader and former acting Planning Secretary Wendi Peters. Maloney represents both secretaries, and was quoted in the Maryland Daily Record.

The case asks whether or not Maryland’s top court believes Governor Larry Hogan used recess appointments in an acceptable way following the withdrawal of their nominations from Senate consideration. Assistant Attorney General Julia Doyle Bernhardt argued that the executive branch does not hold the sole power to appoint, because it is a shared power between the executive and the Senate. However, Maloney argued that Hogan was within his rights to appoint both Schrader and Peters.

Maloney told the court, “If the General Assembly can do this, if they basically can chop off their heads, if you will, budgetarily by simply placing language on Cabinet members it doesn’t want to appoint, here it would be recess appointments and next week it could be something else. It really deprives the executive of the inherent executive authority to make recess appointments.”

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.

To read the article, click here.

 

On May 3, Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal attorney Brian Markovitz attended the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless (MCCH) 2018 gala. This year’s gala, hosted at the Bethesda North Marriot Hotel & Conference Center, specifically celebrated the role of Montgomery County emergency responders in addressing community homelessness.

MCCH has provided solutions to ending homelessness in Montgomery County since 1990. They provide emergency shelter, permanent supportive housing, advocacy for systemic change and an expansion of the supply of affordable housing.

Brian Markovitz is a principal in JGL’s Labor and Employment and Civil Litigation practice groups, and focuses on helping victims who have suffered severe injustices in the workplace. He represents individuals in complex employment litigation and appellate matters involving wrongful termination, retaliation by employers in response to reporting fraud or misconduct and discrimination on the basis on race, gender, age and sexual orientation.

 

On May 4^th, representatives from Joseph, Greenwald & Laake and their colleagues attended the 124th Annual Meeting & Law Day Celebration hosted by the Bar Association of Montgomery County. The yearly event serves as an opportunity for lawyers, judges and paralegals from different firms and industries to socialize in an informal environment. The event, held at the Bethesda North Marriott Conference Center, consisted of a wide variety of speakers and topics. In the morning, presentations included information on how to obtain privileged and protected documents, using mindfulness in lawyering and strategies of trial law from four family law legends. It also included presentations on immigration law, intellectual property, elder law and legal ethics. Following a short break, a lunch program included a keynote address by Rod J. Rosenstein, the United States Deputy Attorney General.

The Bar Association of Montgomery County is dedicated to providing educational material for legal professionals as well as the general public, through a variety of workshops and online resources. The association is also supports various charity associations and provides pro bono legal services to the community.

 

Making pro bono work a priority is a personal endeavor for JGL senior counsel Eleanor A. Hunt. She recently shared this with a large audience at the annual Partners for Justice Conference hosted by the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland. The Daily Record just published an article highlighting Hunt and all of the pro bono panelists at this event. Hunt explains that most of the pro bono work she does is “self-initiated,” and comes from referrals from people in public interest organizations with whom she has a personal relationship. “It’s a relationship,” Hunt said. “It’s a give-and-take, we can help each other.”

To read the full article, click on the Daily Record logo below.

Eleanor is an attorney in the firm’s Family Law practice, representing clients in issues such as divorce, adoption, child custody and visitation disputes, domestic violence proceedings and more. She also counsels individuals and families in estate planning issues such as wills, trusts, power of attorney, advanced medical directives and probate administration.