The Community Law Center

The 2005 Community Law Center Conference, Empowering Neighborhoods, brings together many perspectives on the role of lawyers in community development strategies and community revitalization issues.  A special track examines our cumulative experience with the many facets of unethical and illegal real estate and lending practices and strategies for preventing them.

The conference provides an opportunity for not just lawyers, but everyone involved in community-building activities, including neighborhood leaders, professors, government agencies, foundations, students, and other advocates to share experiences and discuss strategies.

The conference features:

· Over 15 educational sessions to rekindle your energy and inform about current community revitalization efforts, model projects in community legal services, and how to fund your projects; and how to get the word out!

· An opportunity to visit a community that started a city-wide model for vacant land revitalization.

· Resources for services, products, and information at our vendor marketplace.

· Silent Auction & Cocktail Reception: 

      Monday, September 12^th 6:00-8:00 p.m. Top of the World Trade Center.  Come to network, come to shop, come to support the Community Law Center!  Wonderful items to bid on include:  A signed script by David Simon of HBO’s The Wire! Original  artwork from local artists encompassing  various mediums, including ceramics, photography, jewelry, watercolors and more! Services and products from our small business clients! Getaways to the beach!  Gift certificates and gift baskets for all occasions! Great deals and great fun are to be had by all!

Conference speakers include:

Track #1: Community Lawyering

· Anne Arundel Conflict Resolution Center

· Baltimore City Police Commissioner

· Community Conferencing Center

· Community Law Center

· Congressman Ben Cardin

· Homeless Persons Representation Project

· Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations

· Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center

· State’s Attorneys Office

· The Advancement Project

· University of Maryland School of Law

Track #2: Preventing Predatory Real Estate Practices

· Anthony McCarthy, WYPR Radio

· Baltimore City

· Baltimore Economy and Efficiency Foundation

· Bon Secours of Maryland Foundation

· Civil Justice

· Community Law Center

· Faith Fund

· Jayne Miller of WBAL TV

· Legal Aid Bureau

· Our Money Place

· PMI

· St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center

Track #3: Community & Economic Development

· Baltimore Community Foundation

· Belair-Edison Neighborhood Association

· Charm City Land Trust

· Community Land Trust Network

· Community Law Center

· Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative

· Morgan State University Entrepreneurial Development and Assistance Center

· New Columbia Community Land Trust

· New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

· The Small Business Development Center

· The Abell Foundation

Tune into the Marc Steiner Show on WYPR (88.1 FM) Thursday, September 8, at 12 p.m. to  hear Community Law Center staff members discuss efforts to revitalize communities in Baltimore City

Detailed Conference Schedule

MONDAY

8:00 a.m.  Continental Breakfast/Registration

8:30 a.m.  Opening Plenary: 

Patricia C. Jessamy, State’s Attorney

Kristine Dunkerton, Esq., Executive Director, Community Law Center

Franklin N. McNeil, Jr., Chair, Community Law Center

9:00-10:15 a.m.  Concurrent Panel Sessions

Track 1:  Community Lawyering - Defining “Community Law”

Moderator:  Deb Jung, Esq.  General Counsel, Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations

•  Anne Blumenberg, Esq., founder and former Executive Director of the Community Law Center

• Brenda Bratton Blom, J.D., Ph.D., University of Maryland School of Law

Track 2:  Preventing Predatory Real Estate Practices – Preventing Predatory Real Estate Practices from Undermining Your Community Development Efforts

Moderator: Diane Cipollone, Esq., Director of Policy and Research, Community Law Center

• Althea Saunders-Ranniar, Bon Secours of Maryland Foundation

• Michael Guye, Baltimore City Office of Homeownership

Track 3:  Community and Economic Development – Public Safety:  Strategies to Combat Crime and Protect Victims’ Rights

Moderator:  Art Wynn, Chief of Crime Prevention and Public Safety, State’s Attorney’s Office

• Commissioner Leonard Hamm, Baltimore City Police Department

• Russell Butler, Esq., Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center

• Tracy Delany, Esq., Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center

• Reverend Teresa Mercer from the Sidran Institute

10:30-11:45 a.m.  Concurrent Panel Sessions

Track 1:  Community Lawyering – Community Conferencing:  Using Neighborhood Conflicts (and Crimes) to Mobilize Residents and Build Community

Moderator: Linda L. Mason, Esq., Civil Mediation Program Coordinator, Circuit Court for Baltimore City

• Lauren Abramson, Ph.D., Director, Community Conferencing Center

• Linda Deming, Anne Arundel Conflict Resolution Center

• Cindy Lemons, Community Conferencing Center

Track 2:  Preventing Predatory Real Estate Practices –Model Project: SCOPE (Selling City Owned Properties Efficiently) is Redefining the “Best Offer” for Selling City-Owned Vacant Property 

Moderator:  Franklin N. McNeil, Jr., Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

• Danielle Deckard, Community Law Center

• Walter Horton, Comptroller’s Office of Real Estate, Baltimore City

• David Rudow, Baltimore Economy and Efficiency Foundation

• Ayanna Brown, Baltimore City Office of Asset Management

Track 3: Community & Economic Development – Holistic Approach to Revitalizing a Community before It Reaches the Tipping Point

Moderator: Ken Strong, Baltimore City

• Barbara Aylesworth, Belair-Edison Neighborhoods, Inc.

• Mark Sissman, Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative

12:00-2:00 p.m.

Luncheon with Keynote Speaker

Maryland Congressman Benjamin L. Cardin

2:15-3:30 p.m.     Concurrent Panel Sessions

Track 1:  Community Lawyering – Legal Assistance to “Invisible” Populations: Immigrant Workers and the Homeless

Moderator: TBA

• Amelia Lazarus, Esq., Homeless Persons Representation Project and Baltimore City Community College

• M. Aurora Vasquez, Esq., Advancement Project

• Jon Liss, Tenants’ and Workers’ Support Committee

Track 2:  Preventing Predatory Real Estate Practices  -- Asset Building in Low-Moderate Income Communities

Moderator:  Amy McClain, Esq., Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP

• Kevin Jordan, Our Money Place, Inc.

• Kent Marcoux, Faith Fund

Track 3:  Community and Economic Development  - Putting Abandoned Properties Back into Productive Use with Receivership Laws

Moderator: Michael Bainum, Baltimore City

• Susan Hughes, Esq., Community Law Center

• Yahonnes Cleary, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

• Joe Schilling, National Vacant Properties Campaign

3:45-5:00 p.m.      Concurrent Panel Sessions

Track 1:  Community Lawyering – Changing the Landscape:  Addressing Property Use and Design to Make the Neighborhood Safer

Moderator: Kevin Cleary, Coordinator, Operation Crime Watch, Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods

• Irene Poulsen, Neighborhood Design Center

• Alexandra Strubing, Esq., Property Based Crime Solutions Program, Code Enforcement Legal Section, Baltimore Housing Department

• James H. Green, Director of Special Projects, Baltimore City Police Department

Track 2:  Preventing Predatory Real Estate Practices – Risky Business: Emerging Threats in Loan Products to Consumers

Moderator: Diane Cipollone, Esq., Director of Research and Policy, Community Law Center

• Jackie Vunk, National Account Operations Manager, The PMI Group, Inc.

• Odette Williamson, National Consumer Law Center

Track 3:  Community and Economic Development – Funding Community Development from the Foundations’ Perspective

Moderator: Jack Bovaird, France-Merrick Foundation

• Cheryl Casciani, Baltimore Community Foundation

•  Beth Harber, The Abell Foundation

6:00-8:00 p.m.   Cocktail Reception & Silent Auction

Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke Emcee

Across the street at the

World Trade Center 21^st Floor

with an amazing view of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

Free for conference registrants!

8:00-8:45 a.m. Continental Breakfast/Registration

9:00-10:15 a.m. Concurrent Panel Sessions

Track 1:  Community Lawyering – Community Law Center Clients: Southwest Baltimore Community Bus Tour of Vacant Land Strategies

• Kristine J. Dunkerton, Esq., Executive Director, Community Law Center, Inc.

• Zach Holl, Bon Secours of Maryland Foundation, Inc.

• Joyce Smith, Project Director, Operation Reach Out Southwest, Inc.

Track 2:  Preventing Predatory Real Estate Practices – Using the Media to Get the Word Out

Moderator:  Anthony McCarthy, WYPR Radio

• Jayne Miller, WBAL TV

• Joe Surkiewicz, Legal Aid Bureau, Inc.

• Abe Novick, Eisner communications

Track 3:  Community and Economic Development  - Small Business Development in the Baltimore Area

Moderator:  Kelly Pfeifer, Esq., Staff Attorney, Community Law Center

• Omar Muhammad, Morgan State University Entrepreneurial Development and Assistance Center

• Anthony Ruiz, Small Business Development Center

10:30-11:45 a.m.  Concurrent Panel Sessions

Track 1:  Community Lawyering – Community Law Center Clients: Southwest Baltimore Community Bus Tour of Vacant Land Strategies (Continued)

Track 2: Preventing Predatory Real Estate Practices – Before You Sign . . . A Call for Attorney Review of Real Estate and Loan Documents in Maryland

Moderator:  Richard Gordon, Esq., Quinn, Gordon & Wolf, Chtd

• Phillip Robinson, Esq., Civil Justice, Inc.

• Diane Cipollone, Esq. Community Law Center

• Anne Balcer Norton, Esq., St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center

Track 3:  Community and Economic Development – Community Land Trusts as a Strategy to Preserve Affordable Housing and Open Space

Moderator: Barbara Bezdek, Esq., University of Maryland School of Law

• Jim Kelly, Esq., University of Baltimore School of Law

• Bob Reeder, Executive Director, CLT Network

• Pamela Jones, New Columbia Community Land Trust

Hotel Information

The Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, a AAA four diamond hotel is located at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The Gallery, a collection of over 60 specialty shops and restaurants, is connected to the hotel's lobby.  The hotel is within walking distance to many of Baltimore’s major attractions, shops, and restaurants.

Renaissance Harborplace Hotel

202 East Pratt Street

Baltimore, MD 21202

410-547-1200 phone (1-800-535-1201 toll-free)

410-535-1201 fax

Driving Directions:

· From BWI Airport the hotel is 10 miles north.  Take I-195 West to I95 North to I-395 North, 1st right turn onto   Conway St, left at 3rd light onto Light St, bear right onto Pratt St, 1st left onto South St.

· From Penn Station, the hotel is 1.5 miles south.  Take St. Paul Street South  (will become Light Street) approximately 1.5 miles, left onto E. Pratt Street. Hotel will be on your left.

The Community Law Center has reserved a limited   number of rooms at $259/night.  Individual attendees must make reservations directly with Renaissance     reservations by calling 1-800-228-9290. It is important for attendees to identify themselves with the Community Law Center Conference to receive the group rate.  Call by August 15^th to be guaranteed a room at this rate.

Hotel room rates are subject to 12.5% state and local taxes. An extra person charge of $20.00 will apply for each additional adult (more than two) staying in the same room. 

Check in time is 4PM. Individuals may be checked in earlier depending on occupancy levels and availability of rooms. Check out time is 12 Noon.

Parking is available in the hotel garage. Parking rates are:  Early Bird (in by 9am- out by 6pm): $10.00; Daily Max: $20.00 & Overnight: $21.00; and Valet parking is available.

 Thanks to our Generous Sponsors!

Community Law Center

3355 Keswick Road, Suite 200, Baltimore, MD 21211

Phone: (410) 366-0922; Fax: (410) 366-7763

    Unable to open links e-mail to mail@communitylaw.org

The Community Law Center Website is under construction please watch for updates

Page Last Updated: August 25, 2005    © 2005 Community Law Center, Inc. Baltimore, Maryland