Category: lawlibrary

Today, September 17, is the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States in 1787.

For more information check out the Maryland Judiciary’s Constitution Day page.

Read more at the Law Library of Congress about Constitution and Citizenship Day

The National Archives has information in the form of eBooks, online courses and apps:

Exploring the United States Constitution – This eBook connects primary sources to the principles of the Constitution. It can accompany the U.S. Constitution iTunes U course.

Congress Creates the Bill of Rights – The eBook, app, and online resource situate the user in the proposals, debates, and revisions that shaped the Bill of Rights.

Putting the Bill of Rights to the Test – This primary source-based eWorkbook helps students explore protections in the Bill of Rights and how they’ve been tested throughout history. 

The Annotated Code of Maryland includes a Constitution volume that contains both the United States and Maryland constitutions.

Books on constitutional law in the law library include:

The American Constitution: its origins and development / Kelly, Alfred Hinsey (JK31.K4 1983)

Modern constitutional law / by William J. Rich. (KF4550 .A75 2011)

The Reconstruction amendments’ debates the legislative history and contemporary debates in Congress on the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments (KF4756.A29A9)

Treatise on constitutional law : substance and procedure / by Ronald D. Rotunda, Doy and Dee Henley distinguished chair in jurisprudence ; John E. Nowak, Raymond and Mary Simon chair in Constitutional (KF4550 .R63 2012)

American constitutional law / Tribe, Laurence H. (KF4550.T785 2000)

The Maryland state constitution / Dan Friedman ; foreword by Robert L. Karwacki. (KFM1601 1867.A6 F747 2011)

Maryland constitutional law (KFM1600.N5)

The American Constitution: its origins and development / Kelly, Alfred Hinsey (JK31.K4 1983)

Having just reported on the Anne Arundel Pro Bono Recognition Lunch,  seems a good time to share this pro bono story – Pro bono with friends -found in a May blog post by attorney Ivy Finkenstadt describing her work with Anne Arundel’s Pro Bono Committee Chair, Tasnima Apol:

Today I had the pleasure of representing two Guatemalan brothers in a guardianship hearing in a pro bono case I took on with a colleague. Tasnima Apol, of Apol Law LLC is an experienced family law attorney who has done guardianship petitions before and I have experience working with immigrant clients in immigration and other matters. It was the perfect opportunity to pair up to do some good and get additional experience while supporting each other. I handled much of the client interviewing because I speak Spanish, and I was also able to navigate the immigration forms we had to send in. Tasnima rocked the direct examination of our clients in court and her comfort level in the courtroom helped us win.

Teaming up to work with another attorney is one way attorneys branch into new areas of practice or enhance the services they can offer to clients, but it is still not very common. Having made the effort, I recommend it. Especially for solo attorneys, working with a colleague on either a paying matter or doing pro bono could open up new areas of work and deepen your experience while while you maintain your individual practices. In our case together, my colleague and I had a representation agreement with the client that expressed that we worked together. In more complex litigation or a larger team a co-counseling agreement between the lawyers in addition to the consent of the client may be necessary to decide issues of work distribution, allocation of fees, and other issues such as ultimate decision making.

In our case, Tasnima and I both gained valuable skills and experience from working with one another and we are happy to say our clients are well on their way to a better life situation as a result. Do pro bono. With friends.

Do you have a pro bono story to share? Please send it to the Local Pro Bono Committee in care of AALawLibrarian@mdcourts.gov.

The Law Library will be closed July 4th and 5th, 2019, for the Independence Day holiday.  The Law Library will reopen on Monday, July 8, 2019.  A list of Court Holidays is available on the Circuit Court’s website at https://mdcourts.gov/administration/holidays Except on Court Holidays, the Library is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

Independence Day commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. A federal holiday since 1941, Independence Day, also referred to as the Fourth of July, has been celebrated in the United States since 1776.  If you are interested in learning more about Independence Day and the events leading up to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, check out these sites.

• http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/DeclarInd.html
• http://www.loc.gov/item/90898037/
• http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/july-4th
• http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/
  

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but will return by May 2019.