2001 Legislative Wrap-Up by J. Mitchell Lambros
J. Mitchell Lambros (Lambros & Lambros, Cockeysville) received his J.D. from Duke University School of Law and is an Officer on MTLA’s Board of Governors serving as the Secretary. He is a member of MTLA’s President’s Club as a Founder and is a member of the Executive Committee. Mr. Lambros is Chair of the Legislative Committee, a trustee of the MTLA-PAC, and served as the Editor-in- Chief for Trial Reporter (1997-1999). His practice concentrates in personal injury, medical malpractice, workers’ compensation and social security disability.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us …
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Ironically, the opening lines from a
novel set in the context of the French Revolution almost perfectly describe what MTLA’s legislative team experienced in preparing for and carrying out its efforts during the 2001 Legislative Session in the Maryland General Assembly.
It was the
best of times because MTLA put forth an extraordinary effort on behalf of our cli- ents of which all can be proud. It was the best of times because, with the help of House Judiciary Chairman Joseph Vallario and the Johnson family, the Legislature was persuaded to repeal parent child im- munity in motor tort cases in a form that will bring prompt relief to children all across the State. It was the best of times, because no significant bad bills passed. However, it was the worst of times be- cause after making tremendous progress in building momentum for comparative negligence, the bill was killed not by the business community, but by Senator Perry Sfikas, a co-sponsor who abandoned the bill after Peter Angelos ordered him to do so.
The Maryland Trial Lawyers’ Associa- tion stands for keeping families safe, and our legislative agenda and efforts were continually tested against that standard. The purpose of this Legislative Wrap-up is to summarize the efforts put forth and the results obtained. Despite the disap- pointment over comparative negligence, it was a good year.
The Best of Times: The Effort The legislative effort this past session
was very intense and thorough, and many persons deserve credit for it. Our three lobbyists, Dan Doherty, Mindy Binderman, and Mike Arrington all put forth a tremendous, professional, and sin- cere effort. Thanks go to all the MTLA members whose financial support has made it possible to field a three person lobbying team.
Summer 2001 In addition to our lobbyists’ efforts,
there were the efforts of the Legislative Committee, and its Workers’ Compensa- tion and Medical Malpractice subcommittees. All worked very hard, but some persons stand out for special men- tion. Our immediate past president, Phil Foard, and our current president, Bruce Plaxen, both put forward an extraordinary effort, testifying at many hearings and attending every legislative committee meeting. The legislative vice-chair this year was Matt Darby, and Matt did a ter- rific job in testifying at hearings, lining up witnesses, and pressing contacts for help on legislative issues. The Medical Malpractice Subcommittee chair, Wayne Willoughby, and his team did an excel- lent job, as did our workers’ compensation subcommittee chair, Matt Paavola, and his team. Within the Legislative Committee, three persons in particular - Evelyn Darden, Steve Markey, and Randall Craig - emerged as very able and caring partici- pants in the legislative effort. Last but certainly not least, Past President Dan
Clements took an extraordinary amount of time away from his practice to press the flesh.
The Legislative Committee had its first meeting in July of last year. Altogether, it met on four different occasions before the session started. Once the session began, the Legislative Committee met on a bi- weekly basis and had multiple impromptu meetings in the halls of Annapolis. Our Legislative Committee literally covered over thirty hearings and work sessions, many times with only a few days notice. While we had three lobbyists, our ad-
versaries on our issues had a minimum of ten lobbyists and more frequently in ex- cess of twenty lobbyists. Nevertheless, we had a major victory in the form of the parent child immunity bill, laid a solid foundation for a family exclusion bill in the next session, and prevented anything bad of significance from happening.
I
would expect that if you were to ask any- one knowledgeable about legislative affairs
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