For Immediate Release
May 20, 2010

Contact:
Kara Tershel, (202) 662-9037

From left to right: Paul Gleiberman, Seth Goldberg, John Beins, Interim Dean Judith Areen, Associate Dean Deborah Epstein.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of a recent class action in Montgomery County, Md., Georgetown University Law Center has received a cy pres gift of $47,500, which will be used to support consumer protection activities at the Harrison Institute for Public Law. These cy pres funds represent a portion of the unclaimed funds in connection with a class-action lawsuit filed in 1999 and litigated for nearly eleven years against wireless carrier Cellular One (now a division of AT&T). The case claimed that Cellular One overcharged consumers with excessive late fees in violation of state law.

At the urging of Paul Gleiberman, John Beins and Seth Goldberg, the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, the Montgomery County Circuit Court ordered that any unclaimed funds be distributed to non-profit organizations with successful track records in protecting the interests of consumers. In addition to Georgetown’s clinical programs, plaintiffs’ counsel recommended cy pres distributions to clinics at other law schools and Maryland public interest organizations.

The Harrison Institute, a Georgetown Law clinical program which combines teaching of lawyering skills with providing legal services to the community, will use the funds to help protect Maryland consumers in a new and unregulated market: genetic testing. Plans were recently announced to sell the first nationally marketed testing kit for genetically linked diseases. While Maryland law prohibits the use of genetic information to screen applicants for long-term care insurance, it does allow insurance companies to use this information in calculating the actuarial basis of insurance rates. Likewise, Maryland does not regulate use of genetic information for disability and life insurance.

The Institute will work to identify gaps in consumer protection for genetic testing and insurance. At greatest risk are people over the age of 85, the fastest growing market for insurance and testing services, whose ranks will double in the next 20 years. Upon completion of its research, the Institute will report its findings to Maryland health regulators and to the Maryland General Assembly.

"We are delighted to present these funds to Georgetown, which has a long tradition of assisting the underprivileged and those in need," said Gleiberman. "These funds will also help the Law Center’s outstanding clinical programs to train the next generation of consumer advocates."

"We are grateful to Paul Gleiberman, John Beins and Seth Goldberg for their roles in directing this money to Georgetown Law’s clinical programs," said Deborah Epstein, associate dean for clinical education. "This gift will allow us to advocate for the protection of elderly health consumers."

Gleiberman and Beins are both graduates of Georgetown Law. Gleiberman graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1980 and from the Law Center in 1984. He is a principal of the firm Gleiberman & Associates, P.C. in Chevy Chase, Md. Beins received his J.D. from the Law Center in 1989. He and Goldberg are partners in the law firm Beins, Goldberg & Hennessey, LLP in Chevy Chase, Md.

 

About Georgetown University Law Center

Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world's premier law schools. It has the largest full-time faculty in the nation and is pre-eminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax and clinical law. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means, justice is the end. With this principle in mind, Georgetown Law has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body representing more than 60 countries.

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