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Serving our Clients & Serving the Community

At Andrews, Bongar, Gormley & Clagett, we believe, as a law firm of quality attorneys, giving back to our community is an important part of our job. Our community has been very good to us over the years, and we try to repay that kindness as much as possible.

The law affects every one of us - rich and poor. That is why we provide legal assistance to community organizations. And it is why we provide pro bono service to some of those members of the community who cannot afford a lawyer.

Read on to see a few of the many examples of how our attorneys actively serve our community.

We Support Teachers. Susan Steinmetz, wife of Attorney Rick Steinmetz and music teacher at James Craik Elementary, holds one of the 100 goodie bags our firm gave teachers on their first day back to school in 2008. We gave them USB flash drives, notebooks, pens, post its, and, most importantly, emergency chocolate for those stressful moments! We were able to give these bags to all teachers in two schools, and hope to expand this project in coming years. Supporting teachers comes naturally for us since every attorney here is related to, or married to, a teacher.

Our standing policy is to provide free legal consultations to any educator. We feel this is the least we can do for those who give so much to our community while not making a lot of money. We cannot increase their income, but we can make sure they do not have to pay for legal advice.

Serving the Homeless: The United Way of Charles County held it's second annual Homeless Resource Day on May 10, 2011. The United Way brings many of our local service agencies together on one day and in one place so the homeless in our community can access them conveniently. It is held at the Health Partners building next to the Jaycees center in Waldorf. It is a great idea, and has been a major success.

Several attorneys and staff of Andrews, Bongar, Gormley & Clagett were on hand to volunteer. We served as guides for the event. When a person needing resources would come in, they were assigned to a guide who would help them get to the right services available that day. It was a very productive day and those who participated felt great about the chance to give some hands on assistance to those in need.

Given our unique status, we were also able to provide legal advice to those members of the homeless community seeking advice that day. We picked up a new pro bono adoption for a very nice young lady who has been caring for her 3 year old niece since she was born.

Pro Bono Service: Pro Bono Publico is Latin meaning for the public good. Attorneys in Maryland are encouraged to perform a certain amount of pro bono work every year. We at Andrews, Bongar, Starkey & Clagett strive to perform more than our share. Several of us serve as general counsel to various local non-profit organizations. This helps those organizations keep their precious funds targeted where they do the most good. We also provide free legal services directly to many deserving individuals. We prefer that those individuals be screened by others, and therefore we require they be referred to us by a non-profit organization such as a church or other service agency.

Point of Change Jail Ministry: Chaplain John Lewis created and leads the Point of Change ministry to help individuals who are or have been incarcerated, and who truly desire to change their life so they will never end up behind bars again. Jail itself does not reform anyone. Other services have to fill that need if we want less crime in our society. Our firm strongly supports this organization and their goals. We should all reach out to those who have ended up in jail through bad choices, but who sincerely desire to change their ways and improve their lives. Visit them at Pointofchangeministry.com.

A Legal Trust for a Sick Child: When a 3 year old boy with Down Syndrome was diagnosed with leukemia, family and friends poured out their hearts and opened up their wallets. The young boy was set to undergo a costly series of treatments at Children’s Medical Hospital. The family needed funds to pay for his treatment, and other related necessities. They wisely decided to open a separate bank account for this purpose. When they were told they needed to set up a formal trust in order to open this bank account for donations, the family came to our firm. We drafted the trust documents without charge, which allowed the family to legally accept donations while avoiding tax problems.

Advocating for Medical Treatment: Sometimes our paralegals take the time to make a difference without even involving the attorneys. When one of our clients was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, and needed to receive an operation shortly to have a chance to live, she found it hard to get the surgery approved and scheduled. She is of limited means and had to be approved by the department of social services to receive her medical care. It just wasn’t happening quickly enough, and her life was at risk because of the delay.

Christy Bankston simply got mad and started hounding the people at social services to approve her surgery. This had nothing to do with her case. She just wanted to help out our client who was in need. She made calls and wrote letters, shaking the trees at social services. It worked. The client’s surgery was approved within days. Sometimes people just need some help navigating a complicated system, and find it hard to be their own advocates. Christy advocated for our client, and got her the care she needed.

A Free Bankruptcy for a Military Family: After an unexpected illness, a local military family found itself with thousands of dollars in medical bills they were unable to pay. To add to their financial woes, they were the victims of an email scam that cost them the remaining funds they had. They came to us desperate, needing a bankruptcy but unable to pay the fee up front. We were able to handle their bankruptcy at a reduced cost, and by taking small payments over the course of time. As a result, they are now on their way to wiping the slate clean and starting over.

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