I Become A Lawyer

At this point, I would like to ask our children, all thirteen of them, to contribute their stories and not wait until they are eighty-four years old. I am certain that their children would find them interesting.

When Bill Welsh found me in the Speaker’s office in early 1966, he was there to ask that a bill be introduced. Each year, for the past several years, he attempted to enact a law which would give the Division the authority to collect wages for employees who worked and were not paid the wages due. I had become friendly with many members of the Legislature. Among them were Alex Resnick, the Delegate from the 5th District in Baltimore City and Joseph Long, the State Senator from Salisbury on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. With the help of the Speaker’s secretary, Grace Donald and Alex Resnick and Joe Long, the bill was enacted and signed by the Governor. It was assigned to the Employment Standards Service for enforcement. The Chief, Arthur Williams, had no idea how to do this. I was called into the office to devise procedures. I created two forms; one a detailed form which gave a wage-hour investigator all the information needed to investigate and a second form with the bare essentials. The short form was sent was sent to the employer together with a letter. The letter told the employer that a claim had been filed by an employee or ex-employee that he had worked and was not paid the wages due. If the employer agreed that the wages were due, send a check and resolve the matter. If a check was not received within ten days, a wage-hour investigator would be at the employer’s place of business on (date) and (time) to discuss and resolve the claim. The workload of the Service greatly increased. At the time of my retirement in 1990, more than a million dollars was collected annually for employees who had filed claims. I was anxious to get back on the street where I could be back in the store by early afternoon.

When I became Chief in 1969 one of my duties was to interpret the laws assigned to the Service. For example; the Wage Collection Law applied to employees and employers. I was required to decide who was an employee and who was an independent contractor to whom the law did not apply. When I had questions, I would call one of my friends who was a lawyer. I hesitated to do this. When I discussed this with Momma, she suggested that I enroll in Law School and take a few courses until I could make these decisions without the assistance of my lawyer friends. So I enrolled in the Law School at the University of Baltimore. I began by taking two courses twice each week, at night. I left the office on Preston Street at 4:30 and walked over to the University of Baltimore on Charles Street. Momma picked me up at 10:00 o’clock, two evenings each week. At the end of the semester, I took two more courses and then two more courses. Suddenly, in 1975, I had eighty credits, enough to graduate and take the Bar Exam. I was in no hurry: becoming a member of the Bar would not increase my employment status. I took the Bar Exam in 1976 and was sworn in later that year. The swearing in was conducted at the Court of Appeals in Annapolis. Each new lawyer was given two tickets for guests to attend. I took Momma and Amy. After the ceremony, we walked to the State House and the Governor’s Office. Marvin Mandel had become Governor and Grace Donald had become the Governor’s Secretary. Unfortunately Marvin was not there but Grace took Amy into the Governor’s office and Amy sat in the Governor’s Chair behind the Governor’s desk. I showed Grace the Certificate I received and she offered to have it framed. It hangs over my desk on Mansfield Hollow Road.

By 1976, most of the children had moved into their own homes and apartments. My salary was sufficient and we no longer needed the earnings of the Kenmar Food Market. We sold the store and the building at 301 South Stricker Street and a new door opened for Momma.