Mid-Shore Pro Bono Hosts its Bench – Bar Reception, Monday, May 16, 2016, 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. at the Tidewater Inn in Easton, MD. Tickets are $40. The legal community and public are invited, but reservations are required. Tickets may be paid for with a check, cash at the door, or online on the the home page of the MSPB website, www. midshoreprobono.org.
George A. Nilson, Esq., Baltimore City Solicitor, headlines the event with his talk, “2015 in Baltimore: A Tough Time to be the City’s Lawyer.” Mr. Nilson retired from DLA Piper in 2007, and shortly thereafter was appointed City Solicitor by then-Mayor Sheila Dixon. He earned his law degree from Yale University. Mr. Nilson has had a weekend home on the Shore for more than a dozen years.
Mr. Nilson will describe the unique challenges the City and its lawyers have faced for the last year (and still face) beginning with the arrest and fatal transport of Freddie Gray, followed by the violent unrest of late April and the arrival of the National Guard and imposition of evening curfews. In the weeks that followed, six police officers were stunningly charged as criminals in the Freddie Gray arrest and transport by States Attorney Marilyn Mosby, and the trials of those officers are now resuming in earnest – after one hung jury and a trip up to the Court of Appeals. The Mayor decided in May to invite the Department of Justice to Baltimore and undertake a “pattern and practice” investigation of the Police Department. By September, the City’s police commissioner had been abruptly fired and replaced and the City settled the claims of Freddie Gray’s family for $6.4 million. The murder rate spiked throughout the second half of 2015. The Mayor decided not to seek re-election, and a dozen would-be mayors have been having at each other in earnest ever since. The Department of Justice investigation continues with a hoped for conclusion some time this year.
Mid-Shore Pro Bono, Inc. (MSPB), founded in 2005 is the only non-profit legal services organization on the Eastern Shore providing a local pro bono attorney for civil injustices such as divorce, custody, wrongful evictions—essential matters of personal safety, economic security, and family support. MSPB conducts extensive outreach throughout the Eastern Shore with Civil Legal Clinics and specialized programs targeted to Elder Law issues, Children’s Advocacy, Foreclosure Protection, Debtor Assistance project and Community Conferencing. Grants from the Maryland Legal Services Corporation, Administrative Office of the Courts, Department of Housing and Community Development provide funding for these important programs. MSPB is also supported by private foundations and individuals. Donations can be made at www.midshoreprobono.org
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