Edward T. ‘Tom’ Maxwell Jr., a retired criminal defense attorney and civil rights activist, dies – Baltimore Sun & More Latest News Here – Up Jobs

Edward T. “Tom” Maxwell Jr., a retired criminal defense attorney who practiced for more than 50 years and a civil rights activist, died from heart failure July 16 at Gilchrist Center in Towson. He was 88 and lived in Homeland.

“Tommy was a good lawyer and did a lot of criminal defense work. I did civil litigation and I did have a couple of matters with him over the years,” said former Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., who was also a Homeland neighbor. “I first got to know him in the State’s Attorney’s Office and he was likable, smart and fair and was just a great guy.”

“He was a pride of Baltimore guy who went to court to represent his clients,” said former Gov. Martin J. O’Malley, who is also a Homeland resident. “He always had a smile and was also a beloved neighbor. He and his wife, Ann, were part of the Homeland scene for many years.”

Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess was a legal colleague and friend.

“Tommy was very smart and saavy and was always very friendly to young attorneys who he ended up taking under his wing and mentoring them,” Ms. Leitess said. “He was a stand-up kind of guy, and as a prosecutor, I appreciated that.”

Edward Tomas Maxwell Jr., son of Edward T. Maxwell Sr., a Westinghouse Electric Corp. electrical engineer, and his wife, Veronica Minkovich Maxwell, was born in Baltimore and raised on Augusta Avenue in the city’s Edmondson neighborhood.

A 1951 graduate of Loyola High School, he earned both his bachelor’s and law degree in 1955 from the University of Maryland School of Law.

“Tom was very proud of being an attorney,” said his wife of more than 40 years, Ann F. Hurlock, an attorney. “He loved the courtroom and was good at convincing juries.”

After passing the Maryland State Bar in 1957, Mr. Maxwell began his legal career with O’Conor & McManus, where he worked with former Maryland governor and U.S. Sen., Herbert R. O’Conor.

He then joined the firm of Frank, Bernstein, Manger, Maxwell, Hughes and Blanton, where one of his partners was Maryland Gov. Harry R. Hughes. He was working as an assistant state’s attorney for Baltimore City when he later established E. Thomas Maxwell Jr., a solo criminal defense practice, on Redwood Street.

“He loved practicing law and especially the courtroom and his attorney friends,” Ms. Hurlock said. “I remember on our first date he had to make a ‘quick stop’ at the detention center in Anne Arundel County to meet with one of his clients who had just been locked up for something. Forever the detour in his world.”

In 1996, Mr. Maxwell purchased a vacation home in Key West, Florida, and in addition to his Glen Burnie office, opened a second law office on Fleming Street in the Florida resort city.

“I admired him for that. How he could maintain a law office in Key West and practice up here,” Mr. Curran said. “We used to talk about Florida, as I was born in West Palm Beach, and I used to chide him and say, ‘Don’t you have to be in court in Key West this afternoon, and how and when are you going to get there?’”

Brian A. Marsh is a prosecutor in the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office and a longtime friend and legal colleague.

“We’ve had a number of cases together and Tommy was a magnificent advocate for his clients, a talented attorney and just an all around wonderful person,” Mr. Marsh said. “He was one of the top lawyers that I ever dealt with. He was admired by judges, prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys. I liked Tommy and his wife and I was saddened to hear of his passing.”

Mr. Maxwell, who lived on Tilbury Way in Homeland, retired in 2017.

Vernon L. Simms was the chief of staff for the late U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings and also owned and operated a home improvement business.

“We enjoyed sharing the common professional discussions, always discussing both sides of the arguments,” Ms. Hurlock said.

In addition to his law practice, from 1970 to 1982, he was an asset contractor to the Central Intelligence Agency.

He was a member of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, National District Attorneys Association, Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys’ Association, and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Mr. Maxwell was elected a fellow in the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, which is an association of prominent criminal lawyers in the United States.

Active in the civil rights movement, he established one of the first Legal Aid clinics in the inner city at St. Peter Claver-St. Pius V Roman Catholic Church on North Fremont Avenue, and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He also picketed segregated restaurants and had been arrested for trespassing and civil disobedience during the Gwynn Oak Park demonstrations in 1963, that eventually successfully desegregated the West Baltimore amusement park.

In addition to being “a student of the law,” Ms. Hurlock said, his pastimes were reading and following politics.

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“He was a contemplative and an introspective person who liked studying religions,” his wife said. “He always had time to talk to people and was very generous with himself.”

Mr. Maxwell was also a dog lover.

“I’d see him walking his German shepherd,” Mr. O’Malley recalled. “One day, it looked as if our dog, Rex, had disappeared, and both Tommy and my father-in-law spent an hour driving through Homeland looking for him when he was resting all along beside our side door.”

Mr. Maxwell was a member of the Baltimore Country Club, the Johns Hopkins Club, Key West Yacht Club and the St. George’s Society.

Graveside services were held July 19 at Druid Ridge Cemetery in Pikesville.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Maxwell is survived by four sons, Michael John Maxwell of Cedarcroft, Timothy Joseph Maxwell of Taneytown, Terrance Paul Maxwell of Monkton and Thomas Patrick Maxwell of Santa Fe, New Mexico; two daughters, Mary Ellen Maxwell Fonte of Catonsville and Kathleen Ann Maxwell Hummer of Monkton; and 16 grandchildren. An earlier marriage to the former Anne Koll ended in divorce.

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