ARTICLE: JAY MARKS IN PERSPECTIVE

By Jonathan L. Katz

Jay Marks - Legal Acumen Bolstered by Human Excellence 

Background: This article is adapted from Jon Katz's November 22, 2001, posting to the Civil Justice listserve, where Jay Marks received congratulations on coverage in the Maryland State Bar Association's Maryland Bar Journal of his recent immigration pro bono work.  

To know Jay Marks is to know a man with a lifetime of a big heart and a big smile. That's the way he's been even since I first met Jay during the age of tie-dye and electric Kool Aid acid tests (we, however, met in the more ordinary surroundings of a 1969 six-year-old birthday party in Monroe, Connecticut). 

Jay's pro bono and volunteer work for immigrants goes back at least to several years ago when he became active with MAPAVI, a major social services organization focusing on the Hispanic Community, and based in the Culmore section of Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia, which is a major magnet for Hispanic residents. Jay has logged countless hours with MAPAVI, with such work as matching organ recipients with needed organs, bone marrow drives, organizing the very successful free law days in Culmore, and providing legal counsel to the organization.

To see Jay interact with people on all levels is to witness a master at making people of all backgrounds comfortable with him, because they know immediately that Jay has complete respect for people, without regard to their socioeconomic background. Jay's mastery with Spanish and fluency with Portuguese helps him reach out to that many more people 
who need his help.

It is no exaggeration that there have been numerous times that when I have been close to expressing anger at an opponent, it's helped to ask "What would Jay Marks do?" (no offense intended to those who refer to someone else when asking a similar question).

Jay's seamless web of intelligence and likeability translates well on the air, both on radio (where we appeared countless together for two years on the Spanish-language law show we previously sponsored) and on TV, where Jay is interviewed several times a year by Univision, and where he's appeared weekly on Telemundo, providing legal information on his interview segment on the Facetas program, entitled "Nuestros Derechos" ("Our Rights"). 

Jay and I have spiritedly supported our firm's and each other's pro bono activities. For us, it has never been a question of "whether" to do pro bono, but where to focus our pro bono energies. The personal rewards of our pro bono work are tremendous.

If you haven't met Jay yet, you're missing out. Those who know Jay will know that this message is far from exaggeration; it's more likely understatement.

JAY MARKS - FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHTS OF IMMIGRANTS

For samples of Marks & Katz's wins for justice, click here. (Each case is different (e.g., with a different set of facts, law, and adjudicators), and this listing is by no means meant to indicate the results Marks & Katz, LLC, will obtain for future clients. Our goal, of course, is for winning advocacy at every turn).

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