McNees provided pro bono legal services to secure title to a historic African American cemetery in Frederick County, Md., creating a path for its long-term preservation.
When unclear property ownership threatened the preservation of the Knoxville African-American Cemetery, we helped establish a nonprofit organization and secure the legal title needed to protect and maintain the historic burial ground.
The Knoxville African-American Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 130 African Americans, including veterans of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and later conflicts.
Over time, the cemetery fell into disrepair, with many graves unmarked or identified only by fieldstones. Because no individual or organization held a clear title to the approximately 0.93-acre property, efforts to maintain and restore the cemetery were limited. The lack of legal ownership also prevented the cemetery from obtaining insurance and created barriers to pursuing preservation grants and charitable contributions.
In late 2023, Knoxville resident Vanessa Williams sought legal assistance to preserve the cemetery and establish an organization that could take responsibility for its long-term care.
Attorney Matt Graham provided pro bono counsel to form Family and Friends of the Knoxville African-American Cemetery, Inc., a Maryland nonprofit organization established to take ownership of the property and support its preservation.
With the organization in place, Matt filed a quiet title action in the Circuit Court for Frederick County to establish its ownership of the cemetery. The matter presented an unusual challenge because the nonprofit lacked a traditional legal claim to the property, such as adverse possession, and several neighboring property owners potentially held interests in the land.
Through negotiations and court proceedings, we obtained consent orders or default judgments addressing those potential interests and presented the nonprofit’s claim to the court.
Following a merits hearing, the court granted the request and quieted title to the cemetery in favor of Family and Friends of the Knoxville African-American Cemetery.
With legal ownership established, the organization can maintain and restore the cemetery, obtain insurance, pursue preservation grants and charitable contributions, and continue efforts to locate unmarked graves and honor those buried at the site.
Establishing clear ownership removed a significant obstacle to the cemetery’s long-term preservation. Through this pro bono representation, we helped provide the legal foundation needed to protect an important part of Frederick County’s African American history for future generations.
When business owners became targets of a significant federal fraud investigation, our White Collar Defense and Investigations team conducted an internal investigation and presented its findings to federal prosecutors, causing the matter to be closed without charges filed. The challenge Federal prosecutors and the FBI were investigating business owners in connection with alleged bank and […]
When a small business faced an aggressive copyright infringement demand, we developed a strategy to limit the client’s financial exposure and achieve an efficient resolution. Challenge A small business operating as a single-member LLC received an aggressive demand from a copyright enforcement entity after a single unauthorized image appeared on the company’s blog. The rights […]
