Legal Tools for Your Community with Robin Jacobs

As an active community member, it can be difficult to negotiate with nuisance property owners. At tomorrow’s 6th Annual Neighborhood Institute: Love Where You Live, Robin Jacobs of the Community Law Center will share some of the legal tools available to residents and provide information on legal resouces that can help you combat problem neighborhood properties.

Tell us about your background.
I serve as a Community Legal Services Staff Attorney for Community Law Center (CLC) and as an adjunct professor at University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in the Community Justice Clinic. Prior to CLC, I worked as the Staff Attorney for CLC’s Pro Bono Program. Before joining the CLC, I served as a judicial law clerk in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City for Hon. Althea M. Handy. At University of Maryland School of Law, where I graduated in 2009, I received the Community Scholar Prize for my work in the Community Justice Clinic and served as co-president of the Maryland Public Interest Law Project, Inc. (MPILP). I currently serve on the Maryland State Bar Association’s Delivery of Legal Services Section Council and recently became co-chair of the ABCD/Baltimore Vacant Property Subcommittee.

What do you love most about living in Baltimore?
I love the sense of community in Baltimore and the strength and resilience of neighborhoods.

What do you hope people will take away from your workshop?
I believe that a well-organized community group composed of committed residents can make their neighborhood great, and I want to give them the legal tools to help make their dreams for their community a reality. I hope people will take away the knowledge and empowerment they need to address nuisances in their neighborhood.