January 4, 2012 – Nonprofit organizations interested in continuing or seeking funding from the Maryland Legal Services Corporation (MLSC) for civil legal services to low-income persons for Fiscal Year 2013 (July 1, 2012– June 30, 2013) must submit an application no later than March 15, 2012.

MLSC will hold a meeting to discuss the grant application process, general funding policies and the forecast for MLSC’s FY 2013 funding level with grantees and other interested persons on Monday, January 23, 10:30 a.m. in the Poe Room at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Central Branch, 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore. MLSC grant application packets will be distributed at the meeting.

Please contact Tiffany Devonshire at MLSC (410-576-9494, ext. 1003 or tdevonshire@mlsc.org) in advance of the meeting if you need grant application materials in alternate format (such as Braille or large print) or have questions. For more information about the grant process, see Grants.

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The Board of Directors of the Maryland Legal Services Corporation (MLSC) has selected the recipients of its 2011 legal services awards. F. Vernon Boozer, Chairman of the MLSC Board, Maryland Chief Judge Robert M. Bell and members of the MLSC Board will present the awards at the organization’s annual awards reception on Monday, December 5, 2011, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore Hotel.

M. Natalie McSherry of Kramon and Graham PA, and Mitchell Y. Mirviss of Venable LLP, will both receive the Arthur W. Machen, Jr. Award. This award is presented annually to an attorney (usually in private practice) who has rendered extraordinary service by providing civil legal services to the poor or by improving the civil legal services delivery system for such persons. Ms. McSherry, in private practice over 30 years, has been an active volunteer providing pro bono services and serving on the boards of Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service and other legal services programs. Mr. Mirviss has been active as lead counsel in the lengthy class action suit to reform the Baltimore City foster care system for over 20 years and also demonstrates his dedication through his continuous pro bono representation of children with severe disabilities.

Debra Gardner, legal director of the Public Justice Center, will be honored as this year’s recipient of the MLSC Benjamin L. Cardin Distinguished Service Award. This award is presented annually to an outstanding public interest attorney regularly involved in providing, promoting or managing civil legal services to the poor. Ms. Gardner has dedicated over 25 years to legal services and has provided leadership in the Right to Counsel/Civil Gideon efforts locally and nationally.

This year’s William L. Marbury Outstanding Advocate Award, for a non-attorney who has demonstrated outstanding service representing the rights and legal needs of low-income persons or by expanding access to justice for such persons, will be presented to Michelle L. Swift, pro bono program manager at Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service. For 13 years as a paralegal and manager, Ms. Swift has shown dedication to her clients and the attorney volunteers.

MLSC is presenting the Herbert S. Garten Public Citizen Award, which honors an entity or organization not regularly engaged in the delivery of legal services to low-income persons, to Maryland People’s Law Library, which has been maintained by the Maryland State Law Library since 2007. The People’s Law Library is an award-winning website that provides legal and self-help information on Maryland and federal law affecting low- and moderate-income Marylanders and their families.

The MLSC Board is also presenting an Award of Special Recognition to Janet Stidman Eveleth, the recently retired director of communications of the Maryland State Bar Association, for her journalistic excellence in her coverage of legal services issues during her 24-year tenure.

MLSC annually solicits nominations for legal services awards from bar associations, legal services programs and other interested persons and organizations. MLSC was established by the Maryland General Assembly in 1982 to receive and distribute funds to nonprofit organizations that provide civil legal assistance to low-income persons. From its inception, MLSC has made grants totaling over $149 million to help provide services in more than 1.8 million legal matters for Maryland’s families in areas of family, housing, consumer, employment, health care and other civil legal matters.

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As of September 14, 2011 online IOLTA Compliance filing is CLOSED.  If you have not filed your IOLTA Compliance report for 2011, at this time you have likely been decertified to practice law in the state of Maryland. See Maryland Rules, Chapter 600. Attorney Trust Accounts. Rule 16-608.

You may become re-certified by downloading the 2011 IOLTA Compliance form and submitting it either via mail or fax to:

Ms. Iris Joiner
Maryland Access to Justice Commission
2001 E/F Commerce Park Drive
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone: (410) 260-3606
Fax: (410) 260-2504

Once your form is received and processed, you will receive a re-certification order in the mail from the Maryland Access to Justice Commission.

Maryland Legal Services Corporation
Annual Awards Reception
Monday, December 5, 2011
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore, Calvert Ball Room, 20 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

For more information about sponsorship and registration contact: Harriet Robinson, 410-576-9494, ext. 1004 or hrobinson@mlsc.org.

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June 10, 2011 – The Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) will present a check for $5,000 to the Maryland Legal Services Corporation (MLSC) at the association’s annual meeting in Ocean City on June 11, 2011. Board member Judge Pamela J. White and executive director Susan M. Erlichman will be on hand to accept the donation.

In past years, lawyers attending the annual meetings of MSBA receive gifts such as tote bags and mugs. This year the money usually spent on gifts will be donated to MLSC to support its mission to fund legal services providers throughout the state. “Given the economy and the financial hit legal services has sustained with funding, it would be a nice gesture for each MSBA member attending our annual meeting to make a donation to MLSC in lieu of receiving a gift,” explained spokesperson Janet Eveleth.

Erlichman expressed delight with the donation, especially since the corporation has seen interest rates on interest on lawyer trust accounts (IOLTA) shrink as the Federal Reserve Board has held interest rates to near 0 percent. “Every dollar matters,” Erlichman said. “This is a concrete example of MSBA’s commitment to legal services.”

MLSC was established by the Maryland General Assembly in 1982 to receive and distribute funds to nonprofit organizations that provide civil legal assistance to low-income persons. From its inception, MLSC has made grants totaling over $149 million to help provide services in more than 1.8 million legal matters for Maryland’s families in areas of family, housing, consumer, employment, health care and other civil legal matters.