To ward off that Grinchy feeling, many in Maryland's legal community

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Dec 23, 2005 by Ann W. Parks

This time of year, an attorney may be apt to feel more like the Grinch than like a benevolent elf.At least, that's what one lawyer commented, as an aside, when asked about the kinds of holiday activities firms are participating in this year.It isn't like you are rubbing your hands together like the Grinch - doing it on purpose - but this time of year, if you have a trial and prevail, you've ruined Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, whatever, for someone, said Adam Sean Cohen of The Cohen Law Firm.

Of course, if you don't prevail, you and your client won't be particularly filled with holiday cheer either.I have a client who will be spending his second Christmas in a row in jail, he said. You think of that, that they won't have the opportunity to spend the holidays with their families. To ward off that Grinchy feeling, many members throughout the legal community have done much to help others this month - proving beyond a reasonable doubt that their hearts are not, in fact, several sizes too small.The Maryland State Bar Association, for example, collected 19 big boxes full of clothing, food and toys and delivered them, not to the top of Mount Krumpit, but to American Rescue Workers, a national religious and charitable organization.The elves over at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP gave gifts to 65 needy children with the firm's participation in the Salvation Army's Angel Tree Program - up from 50 in 2004, according to Paul A. Tiburzi. The firm also collected cash and toys for Salvation Army and the U.S. Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program.If you're down in Annapolis, check out the doors; the Administrative Office of the Courts put on a holiday door-decorating contest, with the registration fees going to the charities chosen by the winning entrants. Among the winners was the staff at Court of Appeals Judge Clayton Greene's chambers, who chose a southwestern holiday theme complete with a decorated cactus.The Baltimore office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP adopted Thankful Hearts as their holiday charity and contributed enough gifts, clothes, necessaries (and cash) to fill a Ford Explorer with the seats down, wrote Anne Bowie, a public service manager for the firm.Adelberg, Rudow, Dorf & Hendler LLC took a more individualized approach, delivering coats, hats, gloves, toys and other necessaries to a single mom with six children living at a homeless shelter, attorney Michael G. Hendler said this week.Things got truly personal at Saul Ewing LLP this year. The Baltimore office usually sponsors a family at holiday time, but when the house of a secretary's sister burned to the ground last week - with all the holiday toys inside - they decided to make helping that family their holiday goal.We were right there where we needed to be, said Gary B. Eidelman, vice office managing partner for Baltimore. We are going to make their Christmas.In the cardsThe year's natural disasters helped write Zuckerman Spaeder LLP's gift list. The firm made a contribution to Operation Home Delivery, Habitat for Humanity's hurricane effort, in honor of its clients and friends, attorney Herbert Better wrote in an e-mail. Katrina and her kind also had a hand in the holiday cards sent by Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP. The firm, which represents the Housing Authority of New Orleans, solicited drawings from children in HANO's housing projects for the covers. All the participants received gift certificates; in addition, the firm has set up a 501(c)3 nonprofit affiliate devoted to developing affordable housing and providing services to Housing Authority families.It's a kid's drawing, and it has a lot of rain, partner Jon M. Laria says of the chosen drawing. It's an awful opportunity, but an opportunity to help these people directly and to heighten awareness of their situation so that others could help.Towson-based Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz P.A., which represents Carroll County Public Schools, asked that county's elementary school students to create the artwork for their cards, said marketing assistant Heather Guthmann. Each school was allowed to submit three entries; the winner, Angie Martinez of Eldersburg Elementary School, won a $250 savings bond from the firm. The firm also made donations on behalf of friends and clients to 19 of its favorite charities including the American Diabetes Association, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Pro Bono Center of Maryland.The lawyers at Miles & Stockbridge usher in the new year by giving, at the firm's holiday party, an award to the lawyer who has done the most in the way of pro bono work. This year's award was presented this week to Jessica Lubar, who was instrumental in establishing a pro bono clinic at Chase Brexton Health Services. Chase Brexton provides medical, psychological and social services to low income persons; the firm provides two lawyers free of charge on Wednesday evenings.It's a great time for us to recognize those who really go above and beyond the call [with] the pro bono work they've done, said firm chairman John B. Frisch. Young lawyersThe MSBA's Young Lawyers' Division, at their Novemberfest event, raised more than $7,000 - roughly double last year's amount - for the Living Classrooms Foundation from admission tickets and silent auctions. The money will help fund that organization's literacy programs, said event co-chair Samantha Bishop.The Baltimore County Bar Association on Dec. 8 had its 11th Annual Open House for Literacy at the circuit court, with Santa Claus himself in attendance. The Young Lawyers collected 248 new books at the door and obtained the funds to purchase 432 more, for a total of 680 books. The books will go to the Department of Social Services toy store, where parents receiving assistance can shop for their kids.And the Baltimore City Bar Association, on Dec. 6, hosted its annual party for children living in Baltimore City shelters, with fun activities and face painting, according to Saul Ewing associate Damon Dennis, who attended the event.I think the onus should be on lawyers to go back into the community and act as role models, he commented. We can get more lawyers out there, and do this all year round.