Alan Legum Files $7 Million Lawsuit On Behalf Of Two Shooting Victims

From the Baltimore Sun:

Two people who were shot outside a 2005 party at the Odenton Volunteer Fire Company’s banquet hall have filed a $7 million lawsuit claiming the shooter was reckless and the organizer of the party and county officials and fire company officials did not provide adequate security.

The lawsuit - filed Aug. 12 by Erica Lynn Williams of Annapolis, who was hit by a car as she attempted to flee the gunfire, and Delvin Delonta Eldridge of Baltimore, who was shot in the lower back - names Temika Young, who organized the party, Terrance Carlester Medley, the convicted shooter, and Anne Arundel County and the Odenton fire company as defendants, saying they “had a duty keep their premises safe and secure.”

The lawsuit contends that Young’s application to the Anne Arundel Liquor Board Commissioners said the event in the hall in the 1400 block of Annapolis Road was a “second anniversary party” for a local couple that was to include a jazz band, a DJ and about 25 guests. But the lawsuit said Young instead charged a $10 admission for anyone to attend the party. It was not clear how many people showed up…

“They had a responsibility to make sure it was a safe environment,” said Alan Hilliard Legum, the attorney representing Williams and Eldridge. “Our clients received fairly substantial injuries through no fault of their own. They were just innocently attending this event.”

Legum said as a result of the lax planning and security at the party, “it was a situation that got out of control.”

Read the full story HERE.

Read more coverage of the case at the Maryland Accident Law Blog.

Alan Legum Fights Discrimination In Police Department

The Baltimore Sun reports:

When Annapolis city leaders agreed to a federal consent decree in 1986 to more than double the number of black firefighters in the Fire Department within five years, they thought it would end a long-simmering court dispute over hiring.

But nearly two decades later, city officials are grappling with the contentious issue again.

City officials had promised a federal judge that they would try to boost the percentage of black firefighters to about 25 percent by 1991. But the share of black firefighters has dropped since 1986, from 12 percent to about 9 percent today.

The consent decree expired in 1999.

“We spent hours and hours working on that and I don’t think either party would have agreed to something that they didn’t think was fair,” said Alan Hilliard Legum, the lawyer who represented the black firefighters during the legal negotiations in 1986 but has not been involved in the issue since. “I don’t know where things fell through, but it’s a shame that they did.”

Full article below: Read more…

Man Represented By Alan Legum Aquitted of Murder

From The Capital:

Saying prosecutors lacked enough evidence to prove murder, a county judge yesterday acquitted an 18-yearold Annapolis man of charges he shot and killed an Eastport man.

Justen Jeremiah Johnson let out a deep sigh and shook defense attorney Alan H. Legum’s hand as a relative repeatedly yelled out “Thank you, Jesus.” Mr. Johnson cried as he em braced several relatives in the Annapolis courtroom.

An honor roll student at Annapolis High School, he earned his degree while awaiting trial this spring under house arrest.

His father, George Johnson, said his son wants to attend college and is interested in pursuing a law degree.

“Hopefully this could have some positive effect on him,” he said…

Full article below: Read more…