BALTIMORE INSTITUTE FOR LEAD PAINT POISONING DEFENDANTS : CHARLES JEROME WARE, LLC

www.charlesjeromeware.com                  "Here to make a Difference."
For answers to lead paint and poisoning questions, or for an initial courtesy consultation, contact premier defense attorney Charles Jerome Ware at (410) 720-6129. He and his staff can help you when you are being sued in a lead paint or lead poisoning law suit.


There are many people who consider lead poisoning ("plumbism") in Baltimore to be a public health crisis. Indeed, several judges, public officials and other commentators have suggested that in certain circumstances lead poisoning cases are "indefensible". At the Baltimore Institute for Lead Paint Poisoning Defendants, and at the Maryland-based national law firm of Charles Jerome Ware, LLC, we respectfully disagree. From our viewpoint, there are always defenses to lead poisoning claims.


One of the major defenses to specific lead poisoning claims against specific individual individuals and organizations is that toxic lead (Pb) is literally everywhere in Baltimore, including: the air we breath, drinking water, dust, soil, playgrounds, sandlots, construction and  building improvement sites, pipes and other plumbing sites, job locations and industrial sites, commercial buildings, hobbies, toys, furniture, ceramics, pottery, folk and home remedies, cosmetics, jewelry, food and beverages, trees and plants, other products, etc., and  pre-1978 built houses and apartments.


It should be remembered that lead (Pb) is everywhere in our environment. It does not dissolve in water, dissipate, decay nor burn. It lasts ... and lasts ... and lasts. This stuff does not go away. It is estimated that, since its discovery over 6,000 years ago,  over 10 million metric tons of lead residue has found its way into (and exists in ) our environment.


Common and frequent use of lead in the North America probably began in Colonial times. When lead paint was marketed before 1978, it was a legal product in great demand because it was washable and durable, It was repeatedly endorsed by the U.S., state, and local governments, and it was specified for use on government buildings until the mid-1970. Its use peaked in 1922, and by 1940 the use of white lead pigments for interior surfaces was on the way out.


In 1951, Baltimore banned the use of lead pigment in interior paint in Baltimore Housing. This was the first such restriction in the United States.


In 1978, the Federal government banned the use of lead paint altogether in residential housing and other consumer uses


There are three basic keys to follow, I believe, for landlords to avoid or win lead paint poisoning lawsuits:
   (1) MAINTENANCE of the rental property;
   (2) NOTICE to tenants living in the rental property; and
   (3) RECORD-KEEPING and document retention on both tenants and the rental property.