LEAD Initiative
Best Practices Podcasts and Interviews
As part of the LEAD Initiative’s exploration of ethics and professionalism, University of Maryland Law Students interviewed the practicing lawyers and judges described below about their ethical and professional development as lawyers. To listen to a podcast or read the interview, click on the lawyer’s name.
C. Christopher Brown is a founding partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy, which specializes in criminal and civil law with the goal of serving the public interest. Over the course of his career, he has argued before the United States Supreme Court three times: in Cane v. Worchester County, the case ended 250 years in which no African-American had been elected to public office in Worchester County; in Richwind Joint Venture v. Brunson, the court set the legal standard for landlord liability for children poisoned by lead paint; and in Matthews v. Lucas, a case in which he represented illegitimate children denied government benefits solely because their parents were not married. Brown first became interested in law in the 1960s as an opportunity to bring change for the poor and minorities, who previously had not had legal representation. He also is the author of Maryland Civil Litigation. For over thirty years, he taught Civil Procedure and other courses at the School of Law. He recently became the School of Law’s first Professor Emeritus. In 2006, he was selected as one of the Daily Record’s Leadership in Law winners for his years of dedication to the legal profession and the community. Maryland Law student Benjamin Huh conducted the interview.
Ellen Callegary has been in practice for over twenty-seven years and is a founding partner of the law firm of Callegary & Steedman, P.A., which focuses on special education, disability and family law issues. She represents children and adults with disabilities to help them get appropriate services such as special education and rehabilitation services throughout the state. Ms. Callegary has a long history of involvement in disability issues. During her ten years as an assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland, she worked directly with two Attorneys General advising state agencies on matters related to the rights of persons with disabilities and serving as principal counsel for the Department of Juvenile Services. She has lectured extensively on special education and health law, and taught an AIDS Legal Clinic and a Mental Health Law Clinic as a clinical law professor at the University of Maryland School of Law where she is currently a member of the adjunct faculty. In 2003, Ellen completed three years as the Chair of the Juvenile Law Committee of The Bar Association of Baltimore City. She is a past president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, was a Member of the Board of Governors for ten years and is currently a member of the Case Review Committee. She is also a former Women’s Law Center Board Member. Ellen is a member of the Education Advocacy Coalition for Students with Disabilities. “The Daily Record” named Ellen one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women for 2000 & 2004. Maryland Law student Dian Dai conducted the interview.
Judge Evelyn Omega Cannon was sworn in as a judge on the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on December 6, 1996. Before becoming a judge, she was Chief of Litigation for Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. and in that capacity represented the State in a major litigation including suits arising from the savings and loan crisis and the State regulation prohibiting smoking in most public places. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, she taught at the University of Maryland School of Law and she spent one year as a staff attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Judge Cannon has a LL.M and J.D. from Duke University Law School. She has taught trial advocacy throughout the country for the National Institute of Trial Academy. In 1997 and 2001 Judge Cannon was named one of the Top 100 Women in Maryland. She is a Fellow of the Maryland Bar Foundation. Maryland Law student Chris Madaio conducted the interview.
Judge Susan K. Gauvey is a magistrate judge with the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Immediately following law school, Judge Gauvey served as law clerk to the late Honorable Morell E. Sharp, U. S. District Judge in the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. From 1975-79, Judge Gauvey worked for the Legal Aid Bureau in Baltimore, Maryland, as a staff attorney and then as Co- Chief of the Mental Health Law Project. In 1979, Judge Gauvey joined the Office of the Attorney General in Baltimore, Maryland, as an Assistant Attorney General working in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and then in the Civil Division, finally serving as Principal Counsel for Trial Litigation. In 1986, Judge Gauvey joined the Baltimore law firm of Venable, Baetjer and Howard, working in the Litigation Division. On February 26, 1996, Judge Gauvey was appointed a United States Magistrate Judge of the District Court for the District of Maryland. Judge Gauvey is the recipient of several distinguished awards, including the Exceptional Service Award from the Maryland Attorney General's Office; Maryland Top 100 Women in 1996, 1998 and 2000; and the Circle of Excellence Award in 2000. Maryland Law student Jessica Trinh conducted the interview.
Elizabeth Kameen is principal counsel for Maryland’s Secretary of Education. She graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1983. After completing a federal judicial clerkship, she entered private practice in Baltimore, Maryland as a litigator with the firm of Kaplan, Heyman, Greenberg, Engleman and Belgrad. Later she joined the firm of Brown, Goldstein and Levy. In 1989, she joined the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland. There she practiced health care law and became Senior Counsel to the Maryland Medicaid Program. In 2004, she transferred to the Education Division and provided advice and counsel to the Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland School for the Deaf. In doing so, she returned to her roots in education, having previously been a high school teacher and the Director of Funding and Evaluation for a large educational agency. In 2005, the Attorney General appointed her Principal Counsel to the Maryland State Board of Education and the Maryland State Department of Education. Maryland Law student Tien Pham conducted the interview.
Judge Diane O. Leasure, Howard County Circuit Judge, has earned statewide acclaim for her leadership, her levelheaded nature and her effective involvement in wide range of issues within Maryland's legal community. In 1995, then Governor Parris Glendening appointed her as the first woman to serve on the Howard County Circuit Court. In 2002, Maryland Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert Bell appointed her to serve as the Fifth Circuit and County Administrative Judge, again the first woman to serve in the administrative role. Always thoughtful, deliberative and heralded as fair by people on all sides of any aisle, Leasure sat down for in-depth discussions about her leadership values, her integrity and the advice she has for law students. Leasure sat down with Nancy Lineman, a student in the evening program, who was first student to get involved in the LEAD project as part of the University of Maryland School of Law's emerging leadership curriculum.
Stanley Rohd is a 1966 University of Maryland School of Law graduate who practiced 40+ years before retiring about 18 months ago. Also, a member of the Alumni Association Board, a mentor to a first year University of Maryland law student, and an observer/critic to the Trial Team, which competed in the National Civil Trial Competition and to the Maryland Trial Team. Maryland Law student Erin Frazee conducted the interview.
