Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Jervis Spencer Finney (1931-2017)
MSA SC 3520-2704

Biography:

Born in Baltimore, September 22, 1931.  Attended Baltimore schools; Phillips Academy, Andover, MA; Princeton University, A.B., cum laude, 1953; Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1958.  Admitted to the Maryland Bar, 1958; District of Columbia Bar, 1980. Married to Patricia Jane Voneiff; two sons. Died April 9, 2017, in Baltimore County, Maryland.

General Assembly:
Member of Senate, District 13, 1967-74; Republican. Member, Committee on Taxation and Fiscal Matters, 1967; Finance Committee, 1967-74; Legislative Council, 1971-74; Joint Committee on Budget and Audit, 1971-74; Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics, 1971-74; Special Legislative Reapportionment Committee, 1972. Co-Minority Leader, 1973-74.

Private Career and Other Public Service:
Member, Baltimore County Council, representing 2nd District, 1962-66; Regional Planning Council, 1963-66; Taxation and Fiscal Reform Problems Study Commission, 1967-68. U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, 1975-78. Chief Legal Counsel, Office of Governor, 2003 to January 17, 2007. Member, State Ethics Commission, 1980-83; Ethics Law Code Revision Committee, 1994-95. Special Independent Counsel to Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics, 1997-98. Member, Special Study Commission on the Maryland Public Ethics Law, 1998. Chair, State Prosecutor Selection and Disabilities Commission, 1999-2002. Member, Commission to Review the Redistricting Process, Baltimore County, 2001-02. Executive Council of Governor-elect's Transition Team, 2002-03. Member, Drug Treatment Court Commission, 2003-06; Homeland Security Senior Policy Group, 2004-07.

Served in U.S. Army Paratroops, 11th Airborne Division, 1953-55. Attorney. Partner/associate, Williams, Grimes & Stinson, 1958-75. Partner, Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver, 1978-99. Senior Counsel, Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver, 1999-. President, Maryland Criminal Justice Administration Institute, Inc., 1999-2003. Member, American and Maryland Bar Associations. Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers (committee on legal ethics, 1987-98; Maryland state chair, 1993-94; chair, state judiciary committee, 1995-97). Member, American Bar Foundation. Baltimore County Administrator, Keep Maryland Beautiful, 1960. Chair, Baltimore Crusade, American Cancer Society, 1966; Member, Board of Directors, Maryland Division, Multiple Sclerosis Society. Legal Excellence Award for Advancement of Public Service Responsibility, Maryland Bar Foundation, 2003. Maryland Leadership in Law Award, Daily Record, 2003.
 

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