Managing partner Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum and partner Andy Freeman attended the inaugural Justice Thurgood Marshall Lecture, hosted by the newly dedicated Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center in Baltimore City. The lecture was delivered on September 25 by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who served as the 82nd United States attorney general in the Obama Administration, from 2009 to 2015. Former President and Director-General of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sherrilyn Ifill, provided a powerful introduction for Mr. Holder.
The Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center is located in the former P.S. 103 Henry Highland Garnett School, where Justice Marshall attended grade school. Justice Marshall, a Baltimore native, served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1967 to 1991. He was the nation’s first Black Solicitor General and the first Black Supreme Court justice. Justice Marshall was a champion in the pursuit of equality, education, and justice for all. Prior to his Supreme Court appointment, Justice Marshall served as the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He was the lead plaintiffs’ attorney in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case that struck down the “separate but equal” policy of racial segregation as unconstitutional.
The Center, located in West Baltimore, was dedicated in July 2024 following a massive preservation effort led by the Rev. Dr. Alvin C. Hathaway Sr. It will be used for applied research and community education through the University of Maryland’s Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. Center for Education, Justice and Ethics; community service and programming; and an interpretive museum and exhibit space honoring civil rights leaders who have ties to the Upton community, like Justice Marshall, Walter Sondheim, and the Hon. Elijah Cummings
BGL is proud to have helped fund the Justice Thurgood Marshall Lecture Fund in 2023. Earlier this year, BGL also donated a painted mural of Justice Marshall created by students at Highlandtown Middle School #215 in Baltimore, hangs in the new Amenity Center. The artwork, comprised of twenty individual squares, was created after educator Chadrick Shoales taught his students about Justice Marshall during Black History Month.
Both Sharon and Andy were honored to attend the Center’s first lecture and honor such an impactful figure in the history of civil rights in the United States. They were equally honored to hear from Mr. Holder, who has passionately defended the rights of all citizens to vote as well as to hold police accountable for using excessive force, particularly against unarmed Black men – fights that resonates deeply with the mission of BGL. Mr. Holder described the work of Justice Marshall as unfinished and urged all of us to push that work forward towards this nation’s goals of liberty and justice for all. Sharon, Andy, and all BGL’s attorneys stand at the forefront of litigating civil rights cases in every area of the community: schools, workplaces, families, government, health care services and more. We look forward to supporting the continued work of the Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center.
ABOUT SHARON KREVOR-WEISBAUM
Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum takes great pride in her role as Managing Partner of Brown, Goldstein & Levy while continuing her active practice on behalf of a varied client base. Clients and colleagues alike recognize Sharon as a trusted advisor willing to share her extensive experience, knowledge of the law, passion, and sense of justice openly and freely. She strives to develop deep client-lawyer relationships that emphasize the unique voice and needs of each one of her clients. Learn more about Sharon.
ABOUT ANDY FREEMAN
Andy Freeman obtains impressive results for his clients. A partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy, he has won numerous verdicts, judgments and settlements of millions, tens of millions and in one case, over one billion dollars by mastering the relevant law and getting to know his clients, their problems and the evidence in their cases. Andy is an expert at difficult cases that require complicated combinations of law and facts or that require making a new law altogether. Learn more about Andy.
ABOUT BROWN, GOLDSTEIN & LEVY
Founded in 1982, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, DC. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.