Rhode Island lawmakers are considering whether to enact a first-in-the-nation bill of rights for the homeless. The bill would prohibit certain groups of people (mainly police officers, landlords, employers and medical workers) from discriminating against the homeless.

Just about every year there are bills proposed in the Maryland General Assembly to help protect the homeless. In fact, Maryland is a leader in legislation protecting the homeless and in 2009 became the first state to pass a law classifying crimes against the homeless as hate crimes. (Other states, including Rhode Island, soon passed their own versions of the bill.)

But Maryland still has its struggles with this issue. Just recently Baltimore City faced a controversy when it shut off the power supply to a homeless shelter after the shelter allegedly didn’t pay its bills. The shelter alleges that the city owes the shelter money; hopefully the sides will reach a resolution so this vulnerable population isn’t left without a safe haven.

(For more about the homeless in Baltimore, check out this blog. It’s written by a formerly homeless man living in Baltimore. It hasn’t been updated recently but the posts are personal and informative.)

Statistics on the number of attacks on homeless people are extremely sad — 1,184 cases of violence since 1999, according to one report. And these are only the cases that we know about. It’s likely that there are many more incidents that go unreported.

The homeless already have such a small voice in our society; I can’t imagine what it must be like to face discrimination from the people that you need help from. It’s enough of a struggle for them to try and to survive and get their lives together. (Check out the comments in the story about the Rhode Island law to see some of the hatred that exists.) Although this Rhode Island bill may be difficult to enforce, I believe it is an important step in protecting the homeless.

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As I’m sure most of you animal lovers already know, the Court of Appeals opinion has imposed strict liability on pit bull owners if their dog attacks someone.

In most cases of a dog attack, owners are only liable if they had reason to know that their dog was dangerous. But after this opinion, the attack victim only has to show that the dog was a pit bull or even part-pit bull and the owner will be automatically liable.

I read the opinion and am a bit confused why the court didn’t find liability based on vicious propensity considering the dog in question had exhibited vicious tendencies before this attack.

The law resulting from this ruling falls into the category of “breed-specific legislation.” Maryland is not the first state to have such laws and this isn’t even the first law against pit bulls in Maryland — pit bulls are banned in Prince George’s County. Other states have taken different legal approaches, for example requiring pit bull owners to complete a special registration of their animals and prove that they possessed a certain amount of liability insurance.

The American Kennel Club takes the stance that dangerous dog legislation must be nondiscriminatory. Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand why pit bulls are considered dangerous and I feel for anyone who is the victim of a dog attack. I realize it is extremely traumatic and the injuries can be devastating. I don’t have a pit bull myself and do sometimes feel guilty/ hypocritical about having a different type of dog instead of a rescue pit. I didn’t think I’d be able to handle a bigger dog on my own living in the city without a yard.

But I hope I’ll have the resources to adopt larger breeds that need help. There are a lot of great organizations in the Baltimore area helping pits, such as BARCS, and I don’t think people need any disincentive to help this breed that desperately needs our help.

Check out this website if you want more information on the problems with breed-specific legislation.

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To law school that is. I saw a short article this morning about the value of a law degree in a divorce case. A judge held that a wife’s J.D. added $126,000 to her earning power. (I’m not sure about the wife’s age or experience or what kind of law she practices, but it seems the court valued her degree less than what she paid for it.)

I know I’ve written about this before, but I’m thinking about it again as I continue my job search/ hiatus. What value does my law degree have now, and what value will it have 20 years from now? I feel like it’ll all be worth it, but I must say the dream of a life without loans is a sweet one.

Most entry-level attorney jobs (besides big-firm jobs) don’t pay that much more than the starting salary at a non-lawyer job. The earning potential is more with a law degree, but if you’re smart enough, put your time into working your way up and don’t act like a jerk then you can have similar earning potential.

But it wouldn’t be the same. People are still going to law school in droves and I believe having a J.D. increases your earning capacity, even as society’s view of what it means to be a lawyer changes and even though the payoff can seem impossible now.

Most law graduates are still finding employment even if it is in a “non-lawyer” type positions, like working for their law school in some capacity. And while some may bash these positions, they sound pretty good to me; decent hours and salary while gaining legal experience. The J.D. may not be “required,” but let’s face it — it would be a hard feat to get these jobs without a law degree.

What do you think? Is law school still a good investment or is it a road to nowhere, tempting people who want to feel a sense of accomplishment but who are unprepared for the real world come graduation?

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Who is it that won in Baltimore County?!

The biggest thing Friday (besides The Hunger Games of course) was the Mega Millions. I don’t know about you, but I had my tickets bought and my exotic vacations plans and my new career running a pro bono legal foundation/fund for animals all planned out.

I saw someone tweeted and offered to pay off all the student loan debt of the UM Law’s Class of 2012 if they won. And I’ll admit that I fell for some of the hoaxes on Twitter and elsewhere with people “claiming” to be the winner.

I’m very excited that one of the winning tickets was purchased in Baltimore County. The New York Post first broke the story about the potential Maryland winner — a McDonald’s employee. The story is that the “winner” entered a Mega Millions pool with her coworkers, but the actual winning ticket was a ticket she purchased individually, outside of the pool. 

The potential winner, Mirlande Wilson, has already spoken out and has stated that she will not be sharing her winnings with her coworkers. Is this a wise move for her to speak out? What will happen in the resulting legal battle if she did win? The Post article notes that a similar situation has happened before in New Jersey and that the winner was ordered to share his winnings with his coworkers.

A common practice for office Mega Millions pools is to make photocopies of group tickets and distribute the copies to all contributors. If Wilson really bought one more ticket for the office on her way home from work it’ll be her word against her coworkers in court.

Many think it is best to remain anonymous after winning. Maryland is one of the few states in which winners can remain anonymous. Jay Hancock wrote last year about how crucial it is to stay anonymous and to lawyer up after winning big.  Also check out the advice of a past Mega Millions winner.

It must be difficult to stay anonymous after winning though. Lottery representatives encourage winners to come forward, and who doesn’t like sharing good news? Here’s a link to a gallery of past winners.

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Two weeks ago I wrote about losing my job. I am still out there looking but have also kept plenty busy during my “hiatus,” so to speak. (And that doesn’t include applying for jobs, painting the kitchen and catching up on a pile of errands that can only be done during normal business hours that I’ve been putting off for way too long).

I’ve been spending a lot of my time networking, catching up with old connections and making new ones. Talking to other lawyers has been very interesting; I enjoy hearing about the paths successful lawyers have taken to get to their current positions.

I have also started a freelance legal writing position that has been really great because I really enjoy legal writing. My writing projects aren’t enough to fill my days, but it’s a good way to spend my time and something I can continue to do after my “hiatus” ends. (Although I do think freelance legal writing would be great full-time work if you can get it because of the flexibility it gives you.)

I also began a part-time internship in the Maryland House of Delegates. I have interned in the General Assembly and governor’s office before, and I love being in Annapolis during the session. I am doing research on proposed bills and similar legislation in other states. It’s exciting to be a part of the legislative process and fun to do a little legislative advocacy.

Working in Annapolis presents a ton of opportunities to network. And it’s not that bad being relegated to “intern.” Everyone I’ve met has been extremely nice and understanding. They have helped me network more than I would have ever expected.

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For a job, that is. I was let go from Robert Half recently (no hard feelings, the sales numbers just weren’t there) and have joined the ranks of the many unemployed 20-something law school grads.

My situation should probably give me severe anxiety given the shape of the economy, my nonexistent savings and mountain of student loan debt. Yet, strangely, it’s been kind of all right.

I think this is in part due to the caliber of my company. I’ve seen people at the top of my class go through unemployment, and even have to relocate thousands of miles away just to get a job. If you graduated law school within the past few years, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced unemployment.

I was one of the lucky ones who had a great job lined up long before graduating from law school. In fact, this is my first period of unemployment since I was 15. (Some of my favorite adventures in pre-legal employment included a stint as a bagger at Klein’s Grocery Store and a working the information booth at the Student Union in college.) And right now, I’m enjoying as much as I possibly can the break (which hopefully won’t be too long) and freedom (limited as it may be) about which direction to go in the future.

The most humbling part of all this is to go from helping people find jobs to needing one myself. I took a big risk leaving the practice of law, and I thought it was the right decision at the time and have no regrets. I have no illusions that my decision will make a return to the practice of law that much harder now.

But the other part of why it’s been all right is how supportive everyone has been to me. My friends and roommates have reached out to their networks and my wonderful boyfriend has been incredibly supportive.

If anything, being unemployed now makes me feel like I have a more authentic voice for Generation J.D.

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