Maryland Bar
Bulletin
Publications :
Bar Bulletin
Editor: W. Patrick Tandy
February, 2004
| |
Maryland Bar Foundation
Shea Award Presentation |
| By Pamela J. White |
The time for soliciting
and making nominations of young lawyers for the Edward F. Shea, Jr., Award is an
opportunity to celebrate the best of the Maryland Bar. We also marvel at the
energy and commitment and fun that good Maryland lawyers like Ed Shea and 2003
Award Winner Brian Zemil have brought to their clients and their colleagues at
the Bar.
A former Maryland State
Bar Association (MSBA) President, Ed Shea served his clients and the Bar
throughout his career as the epitome of professionalism, civility, integrity,
compassion and commitment to public service…and he was a baseball fan!
(The symbol of the prestigious award that bears his name is a crystal home
plate.) The Maryland Bar Foundation celebrates Ed Shea as the “Father of
Professionalism” and inspiration for MSBA’s Professionalism Course for new
lawyers. The Edward F. Shea, Jr., Professionalism Award celebrates an MSBA young
lawyer who exemplifies Ed Shea’s best attributes (although being a baseball fan
is not exactly required).
Since 1997, Shea Award
recipients Richard Sandy, Marc Kopec, Emily Vias, Mark Scurti, Ed Fee, Debbie
Potter and Brian Zemil have all reflected the Shea legacy of professionalism –
and more – with their:
- Contributions to
public service or charitable activities
- Demonstration of
respect for the rule of law and our legal system
- Pro Bono work
improving access to justice for those who can’t pay lawyers fees
- Promotion of CLE.
“After listening to
personal memories of Ed Shea by family and friends, I was especially honored to
receive this award,” says 2003 Shea Award recipient Brian Zemil. “He was a good
person who was committed to the practice of law, his family, pro bono and the
community. These are the signs of a good lawyer. Character, civility and
professionalism are your best assets in the practice of law, and they were
exemplified in Ed Shea. That is why I feel it is such a high compliment to be
honored with the Shea Award.”
Technically, there are no
criteria for the Award based on bar work, but Zemil added some notable
characteristics of good organization and unflappable character as MSBA Young
Lawyer’s chair in 2001-2002. Zemil’s bar work follows his billable hours as a
litigation associate at Venable in Towson. One of his nominators (from
outside the Venable firm) described Zemil’s conduct as the consummate
professional lawyer, “unfailingly prepared, and conscientious.” Zemil “treats
lawyers, litigants and witnesses with the kind of dignity and respect which was
Ed Shea’s hallmark.” Litigators and product liability lawyers will appreciate
Zemil’s civil conduct in litigation, as did Judge Rombro with whom Zemil
performed his judicial clerkship after law school. Judge Rombro provided some
adjectives to describe Zemil’s work with him – words like terrific, creative,
involved and caring. Judge Rombro noted that Zemil was always intent on making
sure that justice was not forgotten in the heat or stress of the moment.
Zemil’s nomination for
the Shea Award followed a busy bar year when he and wife Laurel also became
parents for the first time. Daughter Lila arrived in the spring of 2002.
Zemil’s bar work in
2001-2002 was subject to a number of unquantifiable pressures that year:
September 11, 2001, altered all of our lives and tested our mettle; the great
Pro Bono Debate raged on throughout 2001 and 2002; tornadoes in LaPlata, Charles
County, wreaked devastation that tested the Young Lawyers’ Disaster Relief Plan.
Throughout this tough period, Zemil continued to handle on appeal the pro bono
prisoner rights case that he had tried over five days in federal court to a
favorable jury verdict. Everything that Brian Zemil did during his tenure as
Young Lawyers Section Chair and throughout his practice not only exemplified
leadership under stress but demonstrated respect for our legal system, respect
for the critical role that lawyers serve and a fine reputation in the Shea
tradition of professionalism among Maryland lawyers.
Brian Zemil is a worthy
recipient of the Ed Shea Professionalism Award.
