The Law Library and Family Court Help Center in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court is closed today, February 21, 2022 for the Presidents’ Day holiday. The Law Library will reopen tomorrow, Tuesday, February 22, 2022. Except on Court Holidays, the Library is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Find out more about this holiday at the website of the National Archives. I was surprised to find out that “contrary to popular belief, neither Congress nor the President has ever stipulated that the name of the holiday observed as Washington’s Birthday be changed to “President’s Day.”
All Maryland attorneys should have or soon will receive a Call-to-Action postcard from the Maryland Judiciary, the Attorney General’s Office, the Maryland State Bar Association, and the Maryland Access to Justice Commission all who have joined forces to ask all MD attorneys to provide pro bono help.
Signing up is easy. PBRC will match you with the pro bono organizations across the state that are poised to help you get connected to remote or in-person opportunities; train in your area of interest; and receive the support you need to successfully help Marylanders with their civil legal cases at a time they need it the most.
Most non-lawyers would probably agree that legal writing is difficult and hard to understand. Latin, French, Old English and Anglo-Norman terms abound, as do double negatives and coupled synonyms (like “null and void”). This jargon is strewn across lengthy, complex sentences that may need to be read several times – with a legal dictionary – to understand, if at all.
While frustrating, there are reasons for the strangeness of legalese. It should not allow any ambiguity, which means the language needs to be as precise and accurate as possible, to the point where specialized terms and lengthy, comprehensive text are sometimes necessary. Everyday speech evolves all the time and can cause disagreements, while the constancy – hence antiqueness – of legal language is intended to prevent these disagreements.
A great number of people and organizations say yes, hence the passage of the Plain Writing Act of 2010. This act requires all federal agencies publish their documents in plain language. While legal language is intended to minimize ambiguity, it is probably safe to say that most people skip reading lengthy and incomprehensible legal documents. When is the last time you checked “accept” for an online agreement without taking the time to scroll through the small print? These poorly understood contracts can enable unpleasant surprises down the road and cause the very disputes they are meant to prevent.
That said, writing clearly, plainly, and accurately in a way most people can understand is hard. In writing this blog post, I could not make its readability go below an 11th grade level, according to Microsoft Word’s readability statistics (here’s how to find that function). There are information hubs, guidelines, tools, and samples to help with this, however.
Steve Migdal, Jack Paltell and Leonard Englander were the Lawyers in the Library for January. They assisted twelve people with issues such as wills and estates, landlord tenant problems, neighbor issues, expungement of a protective order and an automobile accident.
“Ask a Lawyer in the Library” is held every Wednesday of the month from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and on the third Wednesday from 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. You can talk with a volunteer lawyer for at least 20 minutes about your civil, non-family legal problem for free. All sessions are now conducted over Zoom or by phone.
This program is sponsored by Anne Arundel County Local Pro Bono Committee, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, and the Anne Arundel Bar Association. It is hosted by the Anne Arundel County Public Library.
Register online here or call the law library for help. Once you have registered, you will be sent a link to an intake sheet. Instructions for meeting with the attorney will be sent once the intake is competed.
The Anne Arundel County Health Department announced on Wednesday that they would be partnering with the Anne Arundel County Public Library to distribute KN95/N95 masks to the public. Masks will also be distributed at Department of Health Clinics. You can find locations of public libraries here.
While this law library is a public library, it is not a part of the public library system that will be distributing the masks.
I found the Maryland Voices for Justice – The A2J Dispatch – in my inbox this morning. This newsletter comes from the Maryland Access to Justice Commission. This issue highlighted the Annual Report of the Access to Counsel in Evictions Task Force by reporting:
Access to Counsel in Evictions Task Force Report. Earlier this month the Maryland Access to Counsel in Evictions Task Force released its first annual report to the Governor and Maryland General Assembly regarding the statewide Access to Counsel in Evictions Program. In addition to creating the Program, House Bill 18, which was passed during the 2021 legislative session and became law, effective October 1, 2021, also created the Access to Counsel in Evictions Task Force. The Task Force was staffed by the Attorney General’s office and composed of a group of key stakeholders tasked with figuring out how best to implement the Program. It issued its final report outlining key principles and recommendations that included policy and statutory changes necessary for effective implementation.
To get the latest A2JC updates and receive A2JC’s curated monthly, the A2JC Dispatch, sign up at the A2J Commission website (at the bottom of the page).
The Conference of Maryland Court Law Library directors has issued its Annual Report for FY2021. The report describes how the Conference provides access to legal information, offers expert assistance with using legal materials, operates educational programs and advocates and innovates new solutions for connecting the public to legal information and self-help resources.
The Law Library and the Family Law Self-Help Center in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court are closed today, January 17, 2022, in observance of the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. You can read a little about Martin Luther King, Jr. at America’s Library – the Library of Congress here.
The Law Library will reopen tomorrow, January 18, 2022. A list of Court Holidays is available on the Circuit Court’s website at http://www.circuitcourt.org/court-holidays. Except on Court Holidays, the Library is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
The Maryland legislative session began yesterday, January 12, 2022. The Maryland General Assembly website is the place to find information needed to follow the 2022 session. Issues to be addressed this year include redistricting, COVID-19, family leave, legalization of cannabis, employer vaccine mandates, and evictions. For detailed discussion of issues see the 2022 Issue Papers prepared by the Department of Legislative Services Office of Policy Analysis.
See the Session dates of interest for a session calendar. It includes the last dates when House (February 4) and Senate bills (February 7) can be introduced without going before the respective Rules Committees. The last day of the session, SINE DIE, is April 11.
The Legislation tab provides access to all bills introduced and their progress through the session. There you can review bills that have been introduced by the Senate and House.
Eviction Protection Program Tenants in crisis can contact Arundel Community Development Services (ACDS) to access emergency grants to pay past due rent and utility payments. Certain conditions apply. You can find out more at the Arundel Community Development Services (410-222-7600)
AACPLL Blog: Law Library News 