An artist at the center of battles challenging peddling laws in Baltimore and Ocean City will be the center of attention at a Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts fundraiser Thursday night.

Spray-paint artist Mark Chase will be performing and donating his works to the fundraiser, “Fiesta de los Abogados y Artistes” in the courtyard at Baltimore’s Union Mill. (“Abogados” is Spanish for “lawyer.”)

Chase, the man behind Stellar Paintings, successfully challenged Ocean City’s regulations for street performers, which will be in effect if you’re walking on the Boardwalk this summer. (That’s his painting, “Jupiter Rising,” at left.)

In February, Chase was acquitted on charges of peddling without a permit in Baltimore when a federal judge ruled officers never saw him selling anything.

Chase also has plans to challenge Baltimore’s peddling restrictions much like he did Ocean City’s.

There was a brief story (ha!) in The Annapolis Capital that caught my attention. Seems a burglar took cash, phones and “more than $650 in high-end bras and panties from a woman’s unlocked apartment Monday,” according to Annapolis police.

The woman had left her apartment unlocked for 10 minutes while taking her daughter to the school bus stop, according to police. When she returned, she “found that a pile of laundry was missing, including $650 worth of Victoria’s Secret bras and panties.”

I’m no expert on women’s underwear, but $650 seems like a lot of money to spend on undergarments. I could probably buy a 20-year supply of underwear for myself for the same amount (or, even better, a 40-year supply if you turn each pair inside-out).

My fiance, who is more well-versed in women’s underwear, said the dollar amount is high, especially since Victoria’s Secret often offers deals.

That’s good news for the robbery victim, who now has a chance to restock her drawers, which I guess is a cotton lining of sorts to all of this.

The Baltimore legal community mourning the loss of a longtime prosecutor and a Baltimore County restaurant winning a round in a battle over its parking lot are among the Top 5 legal affairs stories of the week. The most-read story of the week by far, however, was a federal judge’s ruling striking down Maryland’s handgun permit law. The Top 5 stories are:

1. Maryland handgun permit law found unconstitutional — by Steve Lash

A federal judge in Baltimore has struck down part of Maryland’s handgun permit law as violating the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Judge Benson E. Legg said the law’s demand that applicants show “good and substantial reason” to carry a gun is overly broad and not “reasonably adapted” to the state’s substantial interest in ensuring public safety.

2. Legal community mourns Alex Yankelove — by Ben Mook

In describing the late Alexander Yankelove, friends and colleagues of the man who spent nearly four decades at the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s office paint a picture of a tireless worker whose unflagging professionalism influenced generations of young prosecutors — including one who went on to become governor of the state.

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Committees in both houses of the General Assembly are scheduled in the next few days to take up a bill that would erase a state law that codifies the United Methodist Church’s bylaws giving it property rights of its churches.

Helping to lead the charge on the bills are members of Sunnyside New Life Community Church in Frederick, whose legal battle with its former denomination I’ve written about in the past. They will be part of two busloads of supporters making the trip to the Senate on Thursday and House of Delegates on Tuesday.

Pastor Kenneth Mitchell, Sunnyside’s spiritual leader, said the law is causing particular hardships for small, historically-black churches such as Sunnyside, which ended up about $100,000 in debt after taking out a mortgage on its property for the first time and paying legal fees associated with its litigation with the UMC.

Mitchell, who will be testifying before lawmakers, said supporters are “very confident and very hopeful” the bill will past this year after failing in previous sessions. The Senate bill is sponsored by Sen. Lisa A. Gladden, D-Baltimore City. The lead sponsor for the identical House bill is Del. Hattie N. Harrison, D-Baltimore City

“This time the issue is not localized in one county,” Mitchell said. “This is across the state.”

News out of the state appellate courts dominates the most-read legal affairs stories of the week. The Court of Appeals disabarred one lawyer, threw out attorneys’ fees for another and heard an appeal by the former state public defender. The Court of Special Appeals also was asked to vacate its decision overturning much of Jacksonville residents’ $150 million judgment against Exxon Mobil.

Here are the Top 5 stories:

1. Top court disbars Hunt Valley attorney, scolds her counsel — by Ben Mook

In disbarring a Hunt Valley lawyer, the state’s highest court added a written admonishment to the woman and her counsel for an “unprecedented lack of common respect and decency” during the proceedings.

The Court of Appeals last week disbarred Michele L. Payer, a bankruptcy attorney, for numerous violations of the Maryland Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct. Among the more than 80 violations alleged in the Attorney Grievance Commission’s petition were failing to provide competent representation, commingling funds, and providing altered bank records to Bar Counsel during its investigation of complaints filed by two dissatisfied clients.

2. Court of Special Appeals asked to vacate opinion on Exxon Mobil damages — by Danny Jacobs

The Court of Special Appeals should vacate its decision striking down a significant portion of the $150 million in damages awarded to 88 Jacksonville households from Exxon Mobil Corp., according to a motion filed by the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

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Maybe we could’ve seen coming the confusion over the Court of Special Appeals’ in banc hearing of Exxon Mobil’s appeal of Jacksonville residents’ $150 million jury verdict. After all, the judges themselves were concerned about who could hear the case.

The Maryland Judicial Ethics Committee issued an opinion last August — one month before the hearing — titled “Circumstances In Which Appellate Judge May Participate In Appellate Review Involving A Corporate Appellant In Which Such Judge Owns Or Has Owned Stock.”

(The “corporate appellant” is Exxon Mobil, unless there was another party in Maryland appealing what the ethics opinion calls a “$147 million judgment” that I and my colleagues did not know about.)

Anyways, the ethics opinion discusses three unnamed judges facing the following dilemmas:

– Judge A and Judge A’s spouse own shares of the Exxon Mobil, and the company is also in Judge A’s IRA.

– Judge B’s IRA formerly included 75 shares of the stock sold during the summer at a profit “for reasons completely unrelated to” the pending appeal, according to the ethics opinion.

– Judge C owns 350 shares of Exxon Mobil stock. Judge C acquired such shares within the last year but has not indicated the current value of such ownership.

The opinion concluded that Judge B could hear the case because the judge no longer had a financial interest in Exxon Mobil. On the other hand, “to the extent a particular disposition of the pending appeal might ‘substantially affect’ the values of the interests of Judges A and C in the appellant, and thereby cause such judges’ impartiality to reasonably be questioned, they should disqualify themselves,” the opinion states.

Judge James R. Eyler, the committee’s chairman, and retired Judge James A. Kenney III, a committee member, recused themselves from the ethics opinion.

Incidentally, Chief Judge Peter B. Krauser and Judge Albert J. Matricciani Jr. and Judge Christopher B. Kehoe recused themselves from the in banc court’s 321-page opinion.

Jury deliberations in an Anne Arundel County capital murder case and a pioneering change in Maryland corporate law are among the most-read legal affairs stories of the week. The list also includes to titans of the Baltimore legal scene teaming up to take on Facebook and a Court of Appeals ruling on DNA evidence. The Top 5 stories are:

1. Angelos, Murphy file lawsuit against Facebook over privacy violations — by Steve Lash

Two renowned Baltimore plaintiffs’ attorneys have filed a class-action lawsuit against Facebook Inc., claiming that the world’s most popular social networking website has violated federal and California laws designed to protect the privacy of consumers.

William H. “Billy” Murphy Jr. and Peter G. Angelos allege Facebook has surreptitiously used online tracking technology, or “cookies,” to keep tabs on its registered users’ activities, even when they have logged off of the website. Using this technology, Facebook has been able to see what other websites its members visit, Murphy and Angelos claim in the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Northern California at San Jose.

2. Parents’ damages for stillbirth set at $800K — by Steve Lash

A Baltimore jury has awarded $400,000 each to two bereaved parents after finding a Glen Burnie gynecologist liable for the stillbirth of their child.

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The University of Baltimore School of law has narrowed its search for its next dean down to 12 candidates, according to the chairwoman of the search committee.

Michele E. Gilman, a professor and director of the civil advocacy clinic, told students in an email Tuesday that the committee will be interviewing all 12 candidates during the first week of March.

“The names of these candidates are confidential, but we are pleased to let you know that the group is diverse in terms of race, gender, experience, and geography,” Gilman wrote.

Interim Dean F. Michael Higginbotham, pictured, has said he would not be among the candidates.

The committee then hopes to bring three finalists back to campus at the end of March for further interviews and give students a chance to meet the candidates.

The search committee consists of eight faculty members, two alumni, two students and one staff member.

The Court of Appeals delaying the implementation of its counsel at initial bail hearings requirement and the Court of Special Appeals upholding a $3.6 million medical malpractice verdict are among the most-read law stories of the week. Also making the list is a state judge one step closer to the federal bench and a lawsuit over a video shot at the Preakness one step closer to trial. The top 5 stories are:

1. Law firm’s marketing effort takes it to the Baltimore Bridal Show — by Beth Arsenault

Gorgeous gowns, amazing cakes, fabulous florists, luxury limousines: of the 200 or so vendors at the Baltimore Bridal Show, the overwhelming majority were focused on making the couple’s wedding day fantasies a reality.

At one booth, though, the fantasy took a back seat to real-life issues that can make or break a life of wedded bliss. Hodes, Pessin & Katz P.A. — the only law firm in attendance — was on hand with information about such things as prenuptial agreements, credit-history cleanups, estate planning and even vendor contracts.

2. U.S. Senate committee recommends Russell for federal bench — by Steve Lash

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge George L. Russell III took a giant step forward Thursday in his bid for a seat on the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

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Designer knock-offs might be bad for business, but blatant designer knock-offs are always good for a laugh. A Rolax watch? A Pollo shirt? There’s more funny there than you can fit into a Louis Veeton bag.

Which brings us to a story from Georgia about counterfeit Air Jordans, the iconic Nike brand. An officer pulled over a car and noticed the smell of marijuana. A search of the car yielded 78 boxes of Air Jordans.

Except the serial number on the tongues of the shoes didn’t match the one on the box. And the Nike logos peeled off.

And because Michael Jordan’s hand had six fingers.

The two women in the car have been charged “for having forged or counterfeited goods,” according to a local news report.

No word if the women will attempt the “Antonio Alfonseca” defense.