Jon D. Pels and Lawrence J. Anderson of the Bethesda law firm Pels Anderson, LLC were selected by the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association as recipients of the Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. This award is given to trial lawyers who have made the greatest contribution to the public interest by trying or settling a case of precedential value – precedential either because it changed the law in a way that is beneficial to Marylanders or has, for other reasons, ‘sent a message’ to those who might otherwise trample upon the rights of Maryland citizens.
Several years ago, Pels and Anderson learned that thousands of mobile homes in Maryland were not installed in a safe manner. It cost more money to install the homes properly and because the purchase price included installation, the retailer installers had huge incentives to do it the cheapest way possible. When Maryland residents began to discover that something was the matter with their mobile homes, they tried to get lawyers to take on their cases. Repeatedly, they were turned down, as various lawyers felt that the cases were too difficult. But Pels and Anderson became interested in the cases. They climbed under homes with experts and inspected the problems, investigated the practices in different parks and interviewed scores of residents and mobile home owners.
Originally published in The Gazette, July 18, 2007. Find the article here.
Read the Public Justice Foundation’s nomination of Jon Pels