BALTIMORE – 18 November 2004 – LAWFUEL – Law, legal, attorney news – Marta Harting, a partner in the Litigation practice group of Piper Rudnick LLP, has received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Federation of the Blind, the law firm announces.
The award reads: “For your steadfast belief that blind persons are capable of directing and conducting their own research on blindness. For your tireless advocacy to promote the construction of the Jernigan Research and Training Institute. You enhance the present, you build the future.”
The award recognizes Ms. Harting’s pro bono work on behalf of the Federation in its campaign to build the Jernigan Institute, a new one-of-a-kind research and training facility in Baltimore. Representing the Federation during the recent recession, when the Maryland General Assembly, like legislatures all over the country, was under severe budgetary constraints, Ms. Harting succeeded in persuading lawmakers to live up to their earlier promise and authorize the full $6 million in capital budget financing for the construction. The final $1.5 million was granted in the 2004 session.
“We are enormously proud of Marta’s achievements,” said Paul Tiburzi, managing partner of Piper Rudnick’s Baltimore office. “She is a brilliant litigator and a compassionate attorney. She exemplifies our spirit of top-flight service and our devotion to the Baltimore community.”
Betsy Zaborowski, Psy.D., executive director of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, said, “Marta worked with us for the past four years contributing many, many hours to support the development of the new National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute. Her enthusiasm, dedication, and heart will always be appreciated by the blind of this country.”
The Jernigan Institute is located in South Baltimore, adjacent to the NFB’s existing national headquarters building. The Institute is a world-class, one-of a-kind research and training institute on blindness. It is named for Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, the 20th century’s most prominent leader in the field of blindness. The institute’s mission is to revolutionize attitudes about blindness and to develop innovative education, technologies, products, and services that help the world’s blind to achieve independence. It will serve as the nation’s hub for educational programs to help teachers of the blind upgrade their skills; training programs for parents of blind children; and research into improving mobility for the blind, finding new ways the blind may access computer information, and discovering better ways to teach Braille to the elderly who are losing their sight. It will also contain a dedicated adaptive technology incubator center, to assist small companies in getting their useful adaptive technologies to market.
The Jernigan Institute held its grand opening in January 2004.
Marta Harting concentrates her practice in state legislation, administrative law, and public law litigation. She has represented clients before the Maryland General Assembly since 1991 on a broad range of subject matter areas, including insurance, health care, real property, state budget appropriations. In her Maryland administrative and regulatory law practice, Ms. Harting handles matters before Maryland’s Health Care Commission, Health Services Cost Review Commission, Insurance Administration, Public Service Commission, Department of Licensing, and Labor Regulation Financial Regulation Division, as well as the Comptroller of Maryland Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division. She also has an active trial and appellate litigation practice, principally involving public law.
In 2003, the Baltimore Business Journal named her to its list of “40 Under 40” outstanding business leaders in the Baltimore region.
In addition to her extensive pro bono work on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind, Ms. Harting has worked, also on a pro bono basis, on behalf of the Maryland Food Bank. This year she helped the MFB obtain a bond commitment of $962,000 from the Maryland General Assembly to support its new food warehouse and distribution facility.