John Henry Lewin Jr. \u2765 believes that pro bono service is an important part of being a lawyer. His work to improve the Baltimore City court system is proof that he practices what he preaches

Young, Patricia

Digital Commons @ UM Law

I/[Public service] IS the kind of thing that lawyers as professionals need to do ... 1 applied what I've leo rned as a lawyer to the lega 1 system. 1/ PATRICIA YOUNG In winter 1998, three homicide defendants were released without trial. Plagued by overcrowded courts and an anti-quated docket-entry system, the three defen-dants who walked served as a wake-up call for reform of the Baltimore City court system. An ad-hoc committee comprising various heads of agencies was formed. Unfortunately, little was accomplished. This was a systemic problem, and a number of committee members and an editorial in the Baltimore Sun called for a third-party mediaror. Enter John Henry Lewin Jr., partner at Venable, Baetjer & Howard. As a business trial lawyer with the firm si nce 1968 and a staunch believer in public service, Lewin was called in March 1999 to a one-year vol-unteer commitment as mediaror for the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (C]CC) . It is this intense commitment that made the School of Law take note and honor him with the 2001 Benjamin L. Cardin Pro Bono Service Award. "John exhibited great dedication ro the public good when he undertook the work as a full-time activity," notes John Isbister a partner at Tydings & Rosenberg who nomi-nated Lewin for the award. He demonstrated his concern for the community when he threw himself into a project-criminal jus-tice-that did not directly concern his prac-tice as a civillitigaror. " His role with the C]CC started as expect-ed. His strategy was basic: interview the council members and identifY major issues. A mediator was necessary because, "though everyone I've worked ~ith is an exceptional public servant, there was no focal point, no time to plan. I've had fun doing long-range planning," explains Lewin. Council members, including judges, the secretary of public safety and correction , the police commissioner, the mayor, the attorney general , the lieutenant governor, and designees from the state's atrorneys and public defenders offices all agreed on one issue: insufficient excuses were given for tri-als to be discontinued. "Every time I turned a leaf there was a problem," attes ts Lewin. From communica-tion to discovery to inadequate staffing, Lewin and the CJCC set out tackli ng the issues one by one. T hey hired two judges, instead of one, to handle discovery court, established a pilot program with the state's attorneys office ro streamline cases brought before the court, and replaced a manual sys-tem of docket entry with information-age equipment. Two years into his one-year commit-ment, Lewin remains on the job. He will witness what some of this new technology will do, no doubt, as the fiber optic cables are laid and connected . Before Lewin and the CJCc, a police officer hand-wrote an offense report, which was then typed, fLied and sent ro the prosecutor. Now, the officer will enter the report online from a mobile unit with ready access to the prosecuror and the public defender. Another idea of the C]CC's is early dis-position court, or in layman's terms as Lewin describes, "getting the chaff out of the system so we can concentrate on the wheat." A category of misdemeanors typi-cally fall inro the rut of postponement, trial or dismissal. In early disposition court, the goal is ro dispose of 50 percent of these cases within 24 hours of arrest. Instead of going through the court system, the defen-dant is assigned ro community service or a treatment program. "This will take some time," speculates Lewin. "The criminal knows of the likeli-hood of his case being postponed. We need to change the course of the river by offering incentives to accepting plea offers. It will take time for defendants to get word back ro the streets." With a commitment from the mayor's office-400 community service positions and drug rehab-and the infor-mation technology soon ro be in place-upon arrest, officers will share, online, details of the arrest, criminal record, plea offers, and data on rearrest. T he early dis-position court may be well on its way ro meeting its goal. Part of Lewin's energy and ideas stem from, in theory, the perfect scenario. Perhaps this is why his vision is so accurate. He oper-ates from a personal conviction of giving back. "[Public service] is the kind of thing that lawyers as professionals need ro do. I rook on a long-term project and applied what I've learned as a lawyer ro the legal system." Will it work? Who knows? "At least we are no longer in the inertia stage ... we've got the ball rolling," states Lewin. Born and raised in Baltimore, Lewin jokes about his longevity with Venable, Baetjer & Howard, citing a prior stint as a prosecutor in the state's attorneys office as his only digression. He is married ro the same woman he wed the year he joined the firm, jokingly placing the twO events in parallel light. Their two children, he notes, are promising young professionals. Ranking high among Lewin's achieve-ments, he notes, "I am honored ro be selected as a fellow of the American College of Trial Layers. " H e is a member of the American Law Institute, the Bar Association of Baltimore C ity, the Maryland State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. For the past six or seven years, he has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for business litigation. "I have litigated cases against John and have seen firsthand his exceptional skills in civil litigation," says Isbister. "It is wonder-ful when talent of this caliber is brought to bear on a larger communi ty issue." )D MAGAZINE SPR.IN G 2001 43 

Benjamin L. Cardin Pro Bono Service Award

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