Thanks to plaintiff’s attorneys Seth Goldberg, John Beins, and Joe Hennessey, CLS is due to receive a $62,000 share of a $2.4 million class-action award of unclaimed funds from a suit originally filed in 1999.  A Montgomery County court found that Cellular One had violated what was then state law limiting late fees on bills. CLS, as well as twelve other legal service programs in Maryland, are breathing easier as demand for legal services continues to rise in our challenging economic times. 
CLS will be working with Major Roberto Hylton, Chief of the Prince George’s County Police Department, to duplicate in southern Prince George’s County, the successful community outreach established in Langley Park over the past decade.

 

 

Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law a bill passed in the Maryland State Legislature by a significant majority in both chambers increasing the surcharge on civil court filing fees to address the funding crisis caused by historically low interest rates on IOLTA.
Projections indicate that the bill as adopted, which contains a three-year sunset provision, would generate approximately $6.1 million annually to address the shortfall in IOLTA revenue and help fund civil legal aid to low-income Marylanders. “Although short of our original goal, this is a tremendous success by any measure,” said Maryland Legal Services Corp. executive director Susan Erlichman.
CLS Executive Director Neal Conway who testified at the bill hearings said “this is an example of government, non profits, and private industry working together to help build a stronger community”.