The Agriculture Law Education Initiative in conjunction with the newly formed Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) Special Committee on Agriculture, has published the 2014 Legal Services Directory. The Directory lists the 2014 Members of the Committee who provide services and information related to the law and agricultural practices. The directory includes full contact information, practice areas, counties and states served. Dr. Cheng-i Wei, dean and director of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources notes that “this directory will be a valuable resource to the Maryland agricultural community. I’m proud of the leadership being provided by AGNR alumni in the formation of the Special Committee on Agricultural Law. I look forward to many more successful collaborations between the Agriculture Law Education Initiative and the Maryland bar.”
“From the outset of the Agriculture Law Education Initiative, one of the resources Maryland farmers requested most often was a directory of Maryland lawyers working in agriculture law,” says Barbara Gontrum, associate dean at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. “By collaborating with the private bar, the Agriculture Law Education Initiative hopes to build capacity in agriculture law in the state and help meet the legal needs of farmers.”
“This important step is a testament to our sincerity in providing resources and guidance for Maryland’s agriculture community,” said Dr. Moses Kairo, dean of the UMES School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences. “Now all that’s left to do is to make the 2014 Legal Services Directory available to every farm home in the state!”
In 2011, the Maryland General Assembly gave the University System of Maryland a new assignment: preserve Maryland’s family farms; help their owners address the complicated legal issues associated with agricultural estates and trusts, regulatory compliance, and other public policies that comprise what is known as agriculture law.
“As an animal sciences alum and a practicing attorney, I am delighted that the University is establishing such an outreach mechanism to the agricultural community from the legal community. I am proud to be a part of a group of people who are committed to serving an industry that is so important to the state and whose legal needs are so often unmet,” said Kim (Pardoe) Manuelides, Co-Chair of the MSBA Special Committee on Agriculture. Co-Chair Kathleen Tabor said the Committee “is excited to have the opportunity to better serve the ag community by providing this legal assistance resource.”
The Agriculture Law Education Initiative is collaboration under University of Maryland: MPowering the State. The Initiative combines the expertise and efforts of three distinguished Maryland institutions – the Francis King Carey School of Law at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD), and the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore (UMES). It is committed to providing Maryland farmers with the information they need to prosper while complying with the complex network of laws and policies protecting the integrity of the state’s food system and environment.
A complete and current listing of MSBA’s Ag Law Section members can be found by clicking here.