Posted on July 26, 2024 in Liquor License

The Board of Liquor License Commissioners for Baltimore City (BLLC) is responsible for limiting and/or restricting the number of establishments permitted to sell alcohol in Baltimore City. The BLLC is responsible for processing applications for and transfers/renewals of licenses to sell beer, wine and liquor; conducting period inspections of licensed businesses; collecting all license fees and fines; fining, suspending, or revoking licenses; and licensing and regulating adult entertainment business in Baltimore City.

Are there different liquor licenses in Baltimore City?

Yes, there are various types of liquor licenses that can be obtained in Baltimore City depending on the purpose for which the licensed will be used. The licenses consist of (1) Beer and Wine, or (2) Beer, Wine, and Liquor.  Each category includes different classes depending on the type of establishment, purpose for the license, how the liquor will be sold, days the liquor will be sold, and times the liquor will be sold in Baltimore City. 

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 Posted on July 23, 2024 in Identity Theft

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly all U.S. teens say they use the internet every day, with almost half reporting they are online “almost constantly.” As every parent knows, the internet is a double-edged sword: it is an incredibly useful tool, but it is fraught with potential danger for our children—especially when unsupervised. 

Our client is a high school student in Maryland who, facing difficult mental health issues, found himself in the middle of a “catfishing” scandal. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a report from several internet sites for potential “self-exploitation” by a user. Allegedly, our client used photographs that female classmates posted online to create profiles on various websites and have explicit conversations with others online. As a result of the reports, the police began an investigation.

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 Posted on July 23, 2024 in Estates and Trusts

In February 2023, Silverman Thompson initiated an action in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County on behalf of its client, a 105-year-old World War II Veteran. 

As alleged in the lawsuit, Silverman Thompson’s client had lived in the same home since 1960, which had been owned by his parents.  Following his father’s death in 1971 (the second of his parents to pass), Silverman Thompson’s client was appointed personal representative of his father’s estate and, under Maryland’s laws of intestacy, was to deed ownership of the home to himself and his five siblings.  

No such deed, however, was ever prepared.  In the decades that followed, all five siblings themselves passed away, while Silverman Thompson’s client continued to live in the home and pay all property taxes, insurance, and utilities.  However, in August 2022 (six weeks after the death of the last of five siblings), one of Silverman Thompson’s client’s nieces sought to re-open the father’s estate, all in an effort to allow legal title of the home to pass to her and certain of her cousins.  Silverman Thompson thus asked the Circuit Court to quiet title alleging, in relevant part, that its client’s five now-deceased siblings all abandoned their equitable interest in the home in the decades following their father’s death.

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 Posted on July 16, 2024 in Domestic Violence

Both criminal and domestic attorneys are frequently confronted with whether domestic violence protective orders or peace orders can be expunged. This is an extremely important question given how readily available court information now is on the internet. Anyone with a computer or even a smart phone can bring up Maryland Judiciary Case Search and find out a person’s entire legal history in seconds. This information is available to potential employers and undoubtedly costs people job opportunities daily.

That is, of course, unless the person has been able to get the court records expunged. Under the criminal code a person is entitled to have any case expunged that resulted in either a nolle prosequi (a dismissal), a stet (inactive), or a not guilty verdict (also called an acquittal). There are exceptions to this general rule such as a situation in which a person has pending charges or seeks to expunge the entry of a probation before judgement and has a subsequent conviction within three years of that entry.

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 Posted on July 15, 2024 in Case Results

July 1-5

County: Montgomery County Circuit Court

Attorney: Eric Bacaj

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 Posted on July 15, 2024 in Case Results

July 1-5

County: Carroll County

Attorney: Patrick Seidel 

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 Posted on July 10, 2024 in Case Results

Case: Anonymous v. Anonymous (Confidential Settlement)
Settlement Date: January, 2012

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 Posted on July 10, 2024 in Case Results

$7,600,000
Defendant’s settlement offer prior to trial: $0.00
Case: Doe v. American Radiology, et al.
Verdict Date: February 8, 2006

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 Posted on July 10, 2024 in Case Results

Case: Jane Doe No. 1, et al. v. The Johns Hopkins Hospital, et al.
Court: Circuit Court for Baltimore City; Case No. 24-C-13-001041
Settlement Date: September 19, 2014

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 Posted on July 08, 2024 in Business Law

Forty years ago, the Supreme Court decided Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense, which gave deference to federal agencies to implement their charging statutes. In its latest term, the Court’s 6-3 decision in Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo overturned Chevron and dramatically altered the balance of power between federal agencies and the federal judiciary. 

Chevron implemented a two-step approach for the interpretation of statutes. First, courts determined whether Congress had spoken to the statutory question at issue. If Congress’s intent was clear, that ended the court’s inquiry. But if the statute was ambiguous or silent, Chevron directed courts to defer to the agency’s interpretation of the provision if the agency’s reading was a permissible construction of the statute, regardless of how the court would ultimately interpret it. This two-step approach gave deference to administrative agencies concerning the laws they administer and resulted in the presumption that when Congress left ambiguity in a statute, it would be resolved by the administering agency.

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