Mr. Pels was born and raised in Maryland and is married with five children. He is active in both the Blessed Sacrament and Our Lady of Lourdes parishes. His children have attended Blessed Sacrament, Lourdes, Mater Dei, Georgetown Visitation (where Mr. Pels served as the President of the Father’s Club in 2016-17) and Gonzaga College High School.
2007 Maryland Trial Lawyer of the Year, Source: Maryland Trial Lawyers Association
Litigation Percentage:
95% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Representative Cases:
Tate v. Bd. of Ed. of Prince George’s County, 155 Md. App. 536; 843 A.2d 890 (Md. App. LEXIS 25 2004) (minor can assume the risk of statutory rape as applied to the school from which she was released as opposed to the predator)
Jane W. v. Georgetown University Medical Center 863 A.2d 821 (DC 2004) (mere transmission of a letter from the hospital informing patients that may have contracted an infectious disease does not create a zone of danger for negligent infliction of emotional distress for public policy reasons alone)
Honors and Awards:
October, 2004 – Court Approved and Ordered Statewide Settlement Class Action on behalf of Maryland Mobile Home Owners against retailers changing the installation and inspection practices Ellerbe v. Chesapeake Mobile homes et al. C-2002-82562 (Circuit Court Anne Arundel County, Maryland); (“…I think that Plaintiff’s counsel here has taken on a difficult challenge and they were, I think, very ably — the claims were very ably defended, and I think all of the difficulties and all of the challenges described by Mr. Pels are very accurately stated.”; “I want to say again that it has been an interesting experience for me. This is the first class action that I have been involved with I guess on either side of the bench, and I appreciate having the opportunity to work with fine counsel.”; “It is, unfortunately, not every day that you get good lawyers in the courtroom and this is a really very impressive collection and I appreciate all of your efforts. Thank you very much counsel”. Statements made by the Judge for Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County in Approving Mobile Home Class Action Settlement (Transcript available upon request).
August, 2006 – Contested day long hearing in which Defendants’ objections were overruled and the Court Issued Memorandum Order Certifying Class Action on behalf of Maryland Mobile Home Owners changing the building codes inspection practices of numerous counties throughout the State of Maryland to make the homes safer for inhabitants (Circuit Court Howard County, Hon. L. Gelfman) (Memorandum Order Available Upon Request)
2007 Maryland Trial Lawyer of the Year. Source: Maryland Trial Lawyers Association; nominated by Paul Bland Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (Available Upon Request)
July, 2010 – Created and Paid $881,080.35 Cy Pres Fund by litigation to Improve Maryland Mobile Home Parks (Available Upon Request)
September, 2010 – featured in the leading Trial Lawyer guide book Rules of the Road – A Plaintiff Lawyer’s Guide to Proving Liability. 2nd Ed.” ((Available Upon Request) (“[Pels] crawled under dozens of mobile homes to inspect their anchors, held clandestine meetings in cheap taverns with former industry insiders whose consciences were nagging them and faced the usual fog of corporate excuse-mongering from his dark suited adversaries. He wanted to know why so many mobile homes were slipping from their moorings….The defendant installers wanted to make the issue more complicated than it really was, invoking the failure of county inspectors to call them out for their failings. Pels wrote a set of Rules…which he credits for helping to drive his case to victory. We think they are excellent, and we produce the, here with our comments…”)
February, 2012 – Created and ripe to pay out approximately $80,000 to Maryland’s Public Justice www.publicjustice.org pursuant to a cy pres fund created by litigation.
Recipient, American Jurisprudence Awards in Contracts and Criminal Procedure
Faculty, Introduction to Consumer Bankruptcy, Montgomery County Bar Association, C.L.E., Fall, 1995
Community Involvement:
President of the Fathers Club Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School (2016 – 2017)
Vice President of the Fathers Club Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School (2015 – 2016)
Secretary of the Fathers Club Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School (2014 – 2015)
Professional Associations and Memberships:
Montgomery County Bar Association
Member, Pro Bono Committee
Bankruptcy Bar Association of Maryland
Member, Association of Trial Lawyers
