Joe Surkiewicz: The changing face of civil legal need in P.G. County 
BY: Joe Surkiewicz
POSTED: May 6, 2012
Tags: civil, Community Legal Services, Joe Surkiewicz, legal, maryland, need, Prince George's County, prince george's county circuit court, Self-Representation Family Law Clinic
Starting in 2008, the face of low-income clients in Prince George’s County desperate for free civil legal services took a dramatic turn. Family law clients took a back seat to people under the threat of losing their homes to foreclosure. “I never thought we’d be in the mortgage foreclosure business,” said Neal Conway, executive director [...]
Joe Surkiewicz: MPILP raises summer jobs goal for students
BY: Joe Surkiewicz
POSTED: March 18, 2012
Tags: graduates, Joe Surkiewicz, Law, maryland, Maryland Public Interest Law Project, MPILP Annual Goods & Services Auction, students, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
Over the last quarter of a century, hundreds of students at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law have received summer grants to work at public interest law firms. This summer, the Maryland Public Interest Law Project — a nonprofit run by law students — will continue making the $4,000 grants, but [...]
Joe Surkiewicz: Legal help for Asian-Americans
BY: Joe Surkiewicz
POSTED: March 4, 2012
Tags: Asian Pacific American Legal Resources Center in Washington, asian-americans, d.c., educated, immigrant, Joe Surkiewicz, legal help, poor, wealthy
The myth: Asian-Americans, the fastest-growing immigrant group in the U.S., are uniformly wealthy, well-educated and well-assimilated into American culture. The reality? It’s very different: Nearly three-quarters of Asian-Americans are immigrants, more than a third speak English less than well, one out of every 10 Asian-American elders lives in poverty, and 10 percent do not have [...]
Joe Surkiewicz: Serving the community by serving nonprofits
BY: Joe Surkiewicz
POSTED: February 26, 2012
Tags: Clean Water Act, court of special appeals, Environmental Law Clinic, EPA, Joe Surkiewicz, Law, lawsuits, maryland, University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law
The Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law serves two purposes. First and foremost, it makes the practice of law real for future lawyers. But it also provides a valuable — and nearly unique — service to the community: while training future environmental lawyers, the clinic works to [...]
Joe Surkiewicz: HPRP takes on youth homelessness
BY: Joe Surkiewicz
POSTED: January 2, 2012
Tags: Homeless Persons Representation Project, homelessness, hprp, Joe Surkiewicz, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, maryland, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
In September, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health confirmed what most homeless-services providers already feared was true: the number of homeless youths in Baltimore has increased significantly in the last two years. The report revealed that about 1,800 young people between the ages of 13 to 25 are homeless. But most distressing are [...]
Joe Surkiewicz – MLSC recognizes 2011 justice champions
BY: Joe Surkiewicz
POSTED: November 27, 2011
Tags: 4th u.s. circuit court of appeals, attorney, awards, Baltimore City Department of Social Services, Benjamin L. Cardin Distinguished Service Award, lawyers, M. Natalie McSherry, maryland legal aid, maryland legal services corp., maryland volunteer lawyers service, Mitchell Y. Mirviss, public justice center, reception, Venable LLP
Two private attorneys — M. Natalie McSherry of Kramon & Graham and Mitchell Y. Mirviss of Venable — lead the list of honorees at next month’s Maryland Legal Services Corp. annual awards reception. The lawyers will share the Arthur W. Machen, Jr. Award, presented annually to an attorney who has rendered extraordinary service by providing [...]
Joe Surkiewicz: CLC celebrates 25 years of helping neighborhoods
BY: Joe Surkiewicz
POSTED: October 30, 2011
Tags: 501 c3, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, Baltimore, CLC, Community Law Center, executive director kristine dunkertone, Joe Surkiewicz, Nonprofit, pro bono program, volunteer
After a quarter-century of service to nonprofits and neighborhoods around the state, the Community Law Center is throwing a party. The guest of honor at next week’s event is Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, who will be inducted onto the center’s honorary board of directors. Back up a minute: What is the Community Law [...]
Joe Surkiewicz: MVLS, law school to ‘Celebrate Pro Bono’
BY: Joe Surkiewicz
POSTED: October 16, 2011
Tags: celebrate pro bono, Court of Appeals, Francis King Carey School of Law, Hodes Pessin & Katz, Joe Surkiewicz, mark scurti, maryland legal aid, maryland volunteer lawyers service, MVLS, Towson, University of Maryland
This year’s Celebrate Pro Bono recognition reception on Oct. 19 is a twofer: In addition to the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service honoring its top volunteers, the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law’s Leadership in Public Service and Maryland Public Interest Law Project will spotlight law students who have helped low-income Marylanders. First [...]
Joe Surkiewicz: Social workers team up with Legal Aid lawyers
BY: Joe Surkiewicz
POSTED: October 2, 2011
Tags: Cornelia Bright Gordon, Joe Surkiewicz, legal aid lawyers, social workers, University of Maryland School of Social Work
When clients come to Maryland Legal Aid, they’re often desperate. In addition to a pressing legal problem, they’re grappling with other issues that drive their lives into a crisis — no money, no housing or no medical care. Sometimes all of the above. You could say they need a social worker almost as badly as [...]
Joe Surkiewicz: At 100, Legal Aid honors champions
BY: Joe Surkiewicz
POSTED: September 15, 2011
Tags: centennial celebration, harry belafonte, honorees, Joe Surkiewicz, lawyers, legal aid, maryland legal aid, wilhelm joseph
Founded Sept. 24, 1911, Maryland Legal Aid has helped hundreds of thousands of low-income Marylanders, the elderly, and abused and neglected children with their critical civil legal needs. But Legal Aid’s efforts to balance the scales of justice weren’t done alone. To honor those who over the last century contributed their energy and skills to [...]
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