Brian J. Kelly has joined the Baltimore office of McGuireWoods LLP as an associate in the firm’s Corporate Services Department. He will focus his practice on corporate finance, securities and energy and utilities.

Barbara E. Larson and Daniel M. Radebaugh have joined Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, as associates in the Real Estate Department of the law firm’s Baltimore office.

Kimmel & Silverman announces the selection of Robyn G. Katz to manage the nationally-recognized consumer advocacy firm’s new Owings Mills, Maryland, office.

Neil R. Lebowitz

Neil R. Lebowitz, announces the opening of his new practice, the Law Office of Neil R. Lebowitz, LLC, 10320 Little Patuxent Parkway, Suite 1200, Columbia, Maryland 21044; (410) 730-9010. Lebowitz will concentrate in the areas of employment law, contractual disputes and personal injury.

Jeffrey N. Zinn has been promoted to Assistant General Counsel for WebMD Corporation and General Counsel for VIPS, Inc.

David B. Rudow, a member in the law firm of Adelberg, Rudow, Dorg & Hendler, LLC, recently completed a 40-hour Civil Mediation Seminar presented by the Maryland Institute for the Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers.

Joyce K. Becker, associate dean and chair of the legal studies department at Villa Julie College, has been named to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Paralegal Approvals Approval Commission.

Entertainment and Intellectual Property practitioner Cheryl L. Slay has been appointed to the Towson University College of Fine Arts & Communications Dean’s Council. Slay, who chairs the MSBA Entertainment & Sports Law Committee, also recently gave a presentation entitled “Managing Your Assets: A Look at Intellectual Property” for the 12th Annual Conference of the Maryland Association of Non-Profit Organizations.

Randall D. Fisher

After 12 years in corporate in-house practice, Randall D. Fisher has opened the Law Offices of Randall D. Fisher at 106 Defense Highway, Annapolis, Maryland 21401; (410) 897-0009. The firm will also maintain a satellite office in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Fisher will specialize in corporate law, wills, trusts and estates, telecommunications and mediation and arbitration.

Schochor, Federico and Stanton P.A. partners Kerry D. Staton and Phillip C. Federico have been unanimously voted into membership of the Maryland Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Robert J. Mathias, chair of the national litigation practice group of Piper Rudnick LLP, and Morton J. Fisher, a partner in the Baltimore office of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, have been named recipients of The Daily Record’s 2004 Leadership in Law Awards. The awards recognize those individuals whose leadership, both in the legal profession and in the community, has made a positive impact on Maryland.

Howard County employment attorney Cynthia Thomas Calvert has co-authored (with Joan Williams) a book for law firms entitled Solving the Part-Time Puzzle: The Law Firm’s Guide to Balanced Hours; the book shows law firms how to have effective part-time programs that will increase profits and client satisfaction as well as retain valued attorneys.

Kathleen McDermott, Partner in Blank Rome LLP’s Health Law and White Collar Practice Group, participated as the “Top-Rated Expert Speaker” for an Audio Conference sponsored by Medicare Compliance Alert on October 12, 2004. McDermott discussed “Physicians, Pharma and Drug Management – Six Red Flags that Catch the Government’s Eye and What to Do About Them”.

The Maryland State Bar Association has appointed Venable LLP partner Richard L. Wasserman to the board of directors of the Legal Aid Bureau, Inc.

Ober Kaler announces that Dorinda Purvis has joined the firm as a staff attorney in its Baltimore office. Purvis will practice law in the firm’s Construction Group.

John A. Hayden, III

Marta Harting, a partner in the Litigation practice group of Piper Rudnick LLP, has received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Federation of the Blind. The award recognizes Harting’s pro bono work on behalf of the Federation in its campaign to build the Jernigan Institute, a new research and training facility in Baltimore.

Whiteford, Taylor & Preston L.L.P. partner John A. Hayden, III, has been named President of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, a non-profit organization that sponsors in-service activities for board members of school boards through annual conferences, orientation programs for new board members and workshops.

Pamela Frentzel-Beyme, Nicholas E. Johansson and Joel D. McMahan have joined the firm of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston L.L.P. as associates.

David L. Cahn

David L. Cahn announces the opening of the Law Offices of David L. Cahn, LLC, 20 South Charles Street, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21201-3220; (410) 986-00990). Cahn practices in the areas of business law and litigation with a focus on franchise sales and relationship issues.

In association with the Maryland Bankers Association, the Financial Services Group of Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander, LLC, has published the third edition of A Survey of Maryland Laws Relating to Extending Credit and Consumer Financial Services. Carla Stone Witzel, Marjorie A. Corwin and Stephanie D. Cohen, financial services lawyers with the firm, co-authored the publication.

The law firm of Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver has named three nonprofit community organizations serving the Baltimore and Washington metro areas as winners in its John Chandler Baldwin Community Grants Program. The program’s $30,000 in grants will be distributed to the Maryland Food Bank, Project Northstar and Boys Hope, Girls Hope, with each organization receiving a $10,000 grant.

So what have you done lately? Send your latest news to Patrick Tandy, c/o Bar Bulletin, 520 West Fayette Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, or ptandy@msba.org, and be the talk of the town!