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October 2011--More than 700 guests were on hand September 24 for Maryland Legal Aid's sell-out Centennial Celebration. One hundred Champions of Justice and Human Rights were recognized after rousing speeches by Governor Martin O'Malley and guest of honor Harry Belafonte (right, with Legal Aid executive director Wilhelm Joseph)

"The Maryland Legal Aid Bureau celebrated its centennial anniversary Saturday night in Baltimore and keynote speaker Harry Belafonte struck a beautiful chord," wrote board member Erek Barron in The Daily Record. "Both Belafonte and Legal Aid Executive Director Wilhelm Joseph actually sang together on stage!"

"Belafonte entertained the crowd but also offered serious sentiments stemming from his experience as an international human rights activist," Barron continued. "The message was right on time for an organization re-energized around a human rights framework.

"Belafonte acknowledged that he was 'preaching to the choir.' But he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King, saying, "it's important that you preach to the choir because if you don't, they could stop singing," Barron wrote.

"The evening was an opportunity for Legal Aid supporters to get together, reminisce about 'the old days at Legal Aid,' and renew their commitment to Legal Aid's next 100 years," said Baltimore Child Advocacy Unit chief attorney Joan Little (one of the night's honorees). "The governor's and Harry Belafonte's speeches were excellent--and the house was packed."

Added Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, the publisher of the Daily Record, the event's media sponsor: "I hope you are incredibly proud of your team for the tremendous event you held two weeks ago," she wrote in an email to Wilhelm Joseph. "It was an honor to be on stage to celebrate 100 outstanding leaders and support the great works of Maryland Legal Aid. The entire evening was perfect and a great tribute to legal leaders. I met so many people and saw many friends in the legal community. Everyone had a great time and many are still talking about the event."

July 2011--Wilhelm H. Joseph Jr., Maryland Legal Aid’s executive director, is featured in a print and video interview in the Daily Record. “My dream is to have access to justice as available as milk and bread at the 7-Eleven,” [Joseph] said during a conversation last week with Daily Record reporters and editors. Using Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” as a guideline (all people are entitled to freedom of speech and of worship and freedom from want and from fear), Legal Aid is trying to attack the roots of its clients’ problems, making its advocacy more broad-based. “It’s really about creating a society where we are more conscious about justice, where we behave in a way that is more respectful to people and inequities,” Joseph said. To read the interview and see the video, click here.

March 2011--The Equal Justice Council, the fundraising arm of Maryland Legal Aid, announced this year’s awardees to be honored at its annual recognition breakfast at Camden Yards on May 25. The guest speaker is the Hon. A C Wharton, Jr., Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee. Paul D. Bekman of Salsbury, Clements, Bekman, Marder & Adkins and Scott A. Livingston of Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver will be given Champions of Justice awards. The Equal Justice Associates’ Leadership award goes to Lisa Hall Johnson of Dickstein Shapiro and the Pacesetter awards will be given to Ober Kaler and Whiteford, Taylor & Preston. This year’s Trailblazers are DLA Piper, Miles & Stockbridge and Venable. The event is Wednesday, May 25 at 7:45 a.m. in the Camden Yards Banquet Room, 6th floor. Free parking is provided on Stadium Lot C. While the event is free, reservations are required by May 11. Call 410/951-7759 or email agilmore@mdlab.org.

February 2011--An April 28th symposium will celebrate Legal Aid’s Centennial through an exploration of international and national human rights advocacy and its application to local advocacy strategies when serving the poor. The symposium will commence with an in-depth presentation on human rights followed by a discussion of the use of such rights by legal experts. The second panel will focus the discussion on a "Maryland Context" and will be followed by a question and answer session with the audience. Panelists and speakers include experts in the fields of human rights and legal services, including Wade Henderson, Florence Roisman, Edgar Cahn, and Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell. While open to the public, this event is targeted to attorneys, law students, law professors, legal and human services providers, and college and high school students. The symposium will conclude with a cocktail reception.

January 2011--With Maryland Legal Aid’s 100th birthday right around the corner, the Equal Justice Council concluded a record-breaking 2010 annual giving campaign. “We’re looking to build on that for Legal Aid’s centennial in 2011,” said EJC co-chair Benjamin Rosenberg. The E JC, the fundraising arm of Legal Aid, consists of private attorneys who personally contacted law firms in Maryland to enlist their support.

The outstanding individuals and firms who were part of the campaign will be honored at the 14th Annual EJC Recognition Breakfast on May 25.

January 2011--The Midwestern Maryland office (Frederick) received a six-month grant for $8,650 from the Bar Association of Frederick County's Justice for All Fund (administered by the Community Foundation of Frederick County). The money will reestablish a pro se bankruptcy clinic, and develop and conduct pro se unemployment clinics. The first clinic will be a pro se unemployment benefits clinics in Frederick and in Carroll County. Two pro se bankruptcy clinics are scheduled for January 25 in the morning and in the afternoon.

December 2010--Maryland Legal Aid executive director Wilhelm H. Joseph Jr. was awarded the Benjamin Cardin Distinguished Service Award  by the Maryland Legal Services Corp. The award was presented by Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell , who noted that since arriving at Legal Aid in 1996, Joseph has nearly quadrupled its funding, raise salaries and enabled it to serve more than 50,000 Maryland families each year. The Cardin Award is presented each year to an outstanding public interest attorney regularly involved in providing, promoting or managing civil legal services to the poor. In the photo (left to right): MLSC president F. Vernon Boozer, Joseph, MLSC executive director Susan M. Erlichman and Bell.

October 2010--Baltimore Housing/Consumer Law Unit staff attorney Reena Shah was named one of the Daily Record's Leading Women, a group of 50 women, 40 or younger, chosen for "the tremendous accomplishments they have made so far in their career. They [are] judged on professional experience, community involvement and a commitment to inspiring change." The awards banquet is Thursday, December 2, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore.

October 2010--Executive Director Wilhelm Joseph will receive the Maryland Legal Services Corporation's Benjamin L. Cardin Distinguished Service Award, awarded each December to an outstanding public interest law attorney. "Mr. Joseph, who has led the Legal Aid Bureau for 14 years, has advocated for the poor through his long civil rights career, his efforts with the filing fee initiatives in the Maryland General Assembly and many other accomplishments," MLSC's press release said. The awards reception is Monday, December 6, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore Hotel.