ROCKVILLE, MD (06/07/05)—Venable LLP is pleased to announce that litigation partner Paul Kemp recently received the John Adams award from the U.S. District Court in Maryland for his extraordinary work in representing indigents as a member of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel.
Under the CJA, all persons charged with federal offenses who are financially unable to obtain adequate representation are entitled to appointment of counsel to represent them. The Federal Public Defender is appointed to represent 75 percent of financially eligible federal defendants in Maryland. The remaining eligible defendants are represented by private attorneys under the CJA panel.
“This award says something wonderful about our justice system: that poor people charged with crimes in this district can get the quality and caliber of attorneys like Paul,” said Jim Wyda, Federal Public Defender for the District of Maryland. “The bench certainly appreciates what Venable has donated to the court and to the cause of indigent justice in our district.”
For eight years, Mr. Kemp has worked on the panel representing indigents in death penalty, drug conspiracy, money laundering, and other felony cases for the U.S. District Court in Maryland. Nearly 80 attorneys are part of the CJA panel, including Venable partners Geoffrey Garinther, Warren Hamel and Michael Schatzow.
The CJA award is named in honor of John Adams for his role in defending the British soldiers, including the captain, who were charged with murder in the “Boston Massacre” in 1772. The soldiers, who had been cornered by an unruly mob in downtown Boston, fired on the mob, killing five citizens. John Adams received personal threats and suffered professional opprobrium for agreeing to take on this unpopular case. He was successful in getting an acquittal for the captain and five of the British soldiers. The other two were convicted only of manslaughter. John Adams later went on to be a principal author of the Declaration of Independence with Thomas Jefferson, and to become the second president of the United States.
At Venable, Mr. Kemp practices in litigation in the state and federal courts, primarily in the area of white-collar crime and general criminal practice. He also practices in civil litigation, and in various professional licensure administrative hearings.
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Kemp served as an Assistant State’s Attorney, Assistant State Public Defender, and Deputy Federal Public Defender in Maryland.
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