MTLA Honors F. Paul Bland, Jr. as Trial Lawyer of the Year The Maryland Trial Lawyers Association annually honors the Maryland
trial lawyer who has made the greatest contribution to the public interest by handling a case that benefits Marylanders and sends a message to those who might otherwise trample upon the rights of Maryland citizens. This year, F. Paul Bland, Jr., a staff attorney at Trial Lawyers for Public
Justice, was honored as the Trial Lawyer of the Year. Mr. Bland was honored at the annual President’s Dinner held on Saturday, June 9, 2001 at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore. F. Paul Bland, Jr. received the award for successfully arguing the case of Wells v. Chevy Chase. Wells v. Chevy Chase was filed in February, 1999 and charged the bank
with breaching its contract with its credit cardholders by unilaterally raising interest rates above a promised 24% ceiling and imposing new and higher un- authorized fees. In May, 1999, Chevy Chase filed a motion to halt the litigation
and force their credit cardholders into arbitration. In August, 1999, the trial court ordered the plaintiffs into arbitration and that ruling was appealed to Maryland’s Court of Appeals. On March 8, 2001, the Maryland Court of Appeals unanimously held the Chevy Chase Bank could not deprive con- sumers in Maryland of their constitutional right to a jury trial and their right to bring a class action lawsuit. This case triumphed the rights of consumers in Maryland against a large corporation that was tying to take advantage of them. The Court decision was a true victory for consumers in Maryland. “The Court’s decision paves the way for credit cardholders to hold Chevy Chase accountable for reneging on it promise to cap interest fees. These consumers will now have their day in court instead of being forced to participated in a one-sized arbitration process to which they never agreed,” stated F. Paul Bland, Jr., who argued the case in Annapolis on November 6, 2000. According to the evidence, if the cardholders had been forced to submit their claims to the arbitration system on an individual basis, few, if any, of the hundreds of thousands of class members would have had any realistic prospect of a remedy, according to Mr. Bland. Without cases such as Wells v. Chevy Chase, the individual consumer has no chance to take on a large corporation intent on trampling his or her rights.
Fundraising Aces are those individuals who obtained more than one new member or upgrade for the President's Club during the fiscal year.
Summer 2001 Trial Reporter 27
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