Perseverance in Profile


aDvoCatE oF thE DIsaBlED BY TOM CAlARCO


10 “I


On two occasions, Andrew levy—who prefers to be called Andy—recalls being asked to stand during court proceed- ings before a federal judge because the judge failed to notice that Andy uses a wheelchair. Oversights like this are not unfamiliar to people with disabilities, so levy doesn’t let such slights interfere with his work. Still, he says we have a long way to go to improve the way our society treats people with disabilities.


“I think I was destined to become a lawyer,” he says.


“Te lawyering process allows you to do more. You can bring so many talents and eclectic interests to it.” Levy didn’t begin his life with a disability, but during his


first semester of law school, a central-nervous-system infection left him unable to walk. Despite the changes to his physical condition, his commitment to a career in law remained. In the years since, Levy has won numerous awards,


think that disability rights, in many respects, are still in their infancy, particularly when compared to other civil rights,” he says. “In virtually any area— housing, employment, medical care, you name it—people with


disabilities are still the most poorly served, and this cuts across race, gender, ethnicity, even class. Tere is so much work to be done.” Levy is a named partner of Brown,


Goldstein & Levy in Baltimore, Md. He grew up near the nation’s capital, the son of a federal administrative law judge. In college, he majored in theater and dabbled in journalism and photography, but ultimately, was drawn to study law.


JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 DIVERSITY & THE BAR®


including the Benjamin L. Cardin Pro Bono Service Award from the University of Maryland; has been appointed chair of the Maryland Commission on Disabilities; and has served on the ABA Commission on Physical & Mental Disabilities Law. As lead plaintiff’s counsel in the landmark Potomac Group Home Corp. v. Montgomery County, Md., case, Levy championed efforts to eliminate state and local laws that once required neighbor notification and public hearings prior to the opening of group homes for people with disabilities in Maryland. And as lead author of the Maryland Evidence Courtroom Manual (Lexis/Nexis), he also is a recognized authority on the use of courtroom evidence. “Te rules of evidence are so critical to what a litigator


does,” he says. “Tey are to a trial lawyer what hammer and saw are to a carpenter. I like the process of identifying a problem and then fashioning a litigation strategy that offers the best way to attack it.” Levy’s approach to the Potomac case is a prime example.


His involvement in the case began when one of his former firm’s partners, who was on the board of a nonprofit orga- nization, asked him to help it get a license for another small group home for emotionally disturbed boys. At the time,


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