Welcome to Niles, Barton, & Wilmer

1800
- 1800
  The U.S. Capital moves to Washington, D.C.
- 1803
  Louisiana Purchase.
- 1804
  Lewis and Clark Expedition.
- 1807
  Robert Fulton builds his first steamboat.
1810
1820
1830
- 1830
  The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad begins operation.
- 1838
  Niles, Barton & Wilmer, LLP is established in Baltimore City as Brown & Brune by George William Brown and Frederick W. Brune.
1840
- 1846
  Elias Howe invents the sewing machine.
1850
1860
- 1861
  George William Brown serves as Mayor of the City of Baltimore at the outbreak of the Civil War.
- 1862
  Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation.
- 1862
  The Revenue Act of 1862 includes a legacy or inheritance tax.
- 1864
  The Revenue Act of 1862 is modified and includes a succession tax on bequests of real estate, which established the first gift tax in the U.S.
- 1867
  George William Brown takes an active part in the Constitutional Convention.
- 1867
  Randolph Barton and Skipwith Wilmer come to Baltimore and establish the law practice of Barton & Wilmer.
- 1865
  Thirteenth Amendment is ratified.
- 1868
  Fourteenth Amendment is ratified.
- 1869
  Belle Babb Mansfield becomes the first woman lawyer in the United States.
1870
- 1870
  After the Civil War, the legacy and succession taxes are repealed.
- 1873
  George William Brown is elected as Chief Judge of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City.
- 1870
  Fifteenth Amendment is ratified.
- 1876
  Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.
- 1879
  Thomas Edison invents an electric lightbulb that burns for 40 hours.
1880
- 1883
  Brooklyn Bridge is completed.
- 1886
  Interstate Commerce Act.
1890
- 1890
  North American Women’s Suffrage Association is founded.
- 1894
  The Heard Act requires surety bonds on all federally funded projects.
- 1898
  The War Revenue Act imposes a controversial legacy tax (the precursor to the Federal estate tax) on personal property.
1900
- 1902
  The legacy tax is repealed after the Spanish-American War ended.
- 1904
  The National Child Labor Committee is formed.
- 1909
  NAACP is founded.
1910
- 1913
  The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments are ratified.
- 1915
  Carlyle Barton and Judge Alfred Niles form the firm of Niles & Barton.
- 1919
  Eighteenth Amendment is ratified prohibiting alcoholic beverages.
1920
- 1920
  Nineteenth Amendment grants Women’s Suffrage.
- 1920
  First Commercial radio broadcast.
- 1923
  Judge Alfred Niles, along with Arnold W. Knauth, helps found the American Maritime Cases, which is the premier maritime case reporting service in the United States.
- 1927
  Charles Lindbergh flies from New York to Paris solo.
- 1927
  Bell Telephone and the U.S. Department of Commerce conduct the first long distance use of television.
- 1929
  Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
1930
- 1930
  The Smoot-Hawley Tariff.
- 1932
  The gift tax is reintroduced and accepted as a part of the U.S. transfer tax system.
- 1933
  New Deal begins.
- 1935
  The Miller Act is passed, requiring that general contractors post performance and payment bonds for federally-owned projects that exceed $2,000 (the amount was later increased to $25,000 and most recently to $100,000).
- 1935
  The Revenue Act of 1935 introduces the option for an alternate valuation date for estates after the date of death.
- 1936
  Konrad Zuse builds the first freely programmable computer.
1940
- 1941
  Gans & Haman, a predecessor firm to Niles, Barton & Wilmer, was the first firm to keep time records.
- 1947
  The Marshall Plan.
- 1948
  The Revenue Act of 1948 established estate and gift tax marital deductions.
- 1949
  NATO Treaty signed.
1950
- 1954
  Brown vs. Board of Education.
- 1956
  Elvis Presley releases "Heartbreak Hotel," his first gold record.
- 1956
  Ampex introduces the first commercially successful videotape recorder.
1960
- 1963
  Congress passes the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to protect men and women from sex-based wage discrimination.
- 1964
  Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- 1964
  The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is created by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- 1967
  The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects individuals between 40 and 65 years of age from employment discrimination.
- 1968
  Two firms merge to become the existing Niles, Barton & Wilmer, LLP.
- 1963
  Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his “I have a dream” speech.
- 1964
  The Beatles come to America for the first time to appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
- 1965
  Medicare, Clean Air, and Immigration Acts.
- 1966
  National Organization for Women (NOW) is founded.
- 1969
  Astronauts land on the moon.
1970
- 1973
  Roe vs. Wade
- 1972
  The Equal Employment Opportunity Act is amended to improve Title VII’s effectiveness.
- 1973
  Congress passes the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to protect qualified individuals with disabilities from employment discrimination.
- 1976
  The Tax Reform Act unifies estate and gift taxes and introduces the generation-skipping transfer tax.
- 1978
  The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 clarifies that discrimination based on pregnancy is unlawful sex discrimination.
1980
- 1989
  The Fall of the Berlin Wall.
- 1981
  The Economic Recovery Tax Act allows for unlimited marital deduction, full value pension benefits and a change in the tax base.
- 1984
  The Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 requires that employees’ spouses between 65 and 69 years in age receive the same group health plan treatment as employees’ spouses under the age of 65.
- 1986
  The Challenger explosion.
- 1986
  Congress removes the upper age cap of 70 from the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
- 1988
  Niles, Barton & Wilmer returns to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor district, moving to the firm’s current location at Harborplace Towers.
- 1988
  Congress amends the Immigration and Nationality Act with the Immigration Reform and Control Act.
1990
- 1990
  The Americans with Disabilities Act is signed into law protecting individuals with disabilities in employment, public services, public accommodations, and telecommunications.
- 1991
  Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
- 1996
  Congress reinstates an exemption that allows state and local governments to use age as a basis for hiring and retiring law enforcement officers and firefighters in the Age Discrimination in Employment Amendments of 1996.
- 1997
  The Taxpayer Relief Act adds a family-owned business deduction if the business makes up at least 50% of the total gross estate.
- 1997
  The DVD-Video format is introduced in the United States.
- 1998
  The Higher Education Amendments of 1998 allow colleges and universities to offer age-based retirement incentives for tenured faculty members.
- 1993
  Formation of the European Union.
- 1996
  Construction begins on the International Space Station.
- 1999
  Global concerns over the “Y2K bug.”
2000
- 2000
  Changes to the Federal Miller Act benefit subcontractors and suppliers.
- 2001
  The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 makes significant changes to the transfer tax system that expire in 2011.
- 2001
  September 11th attacks.
- 2005
  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court construes common collapse policy language, which expands collapse coverage to include imminent collapse.
- 2006
  Niles, Barton & Wilmer forms a Diversity Committee to identify opportunities and review standards and policies to promote diversity within the firm.
- 2007
  Niles, Barton & Wilmer is accepted into the Law Firm Alliance as the exclusive law firm for the state of Maryland.
- 2007
  Niles, Barton & Wilmer holds its first Women’s Committee event, providing an opportunity for women to meet, network and share ideas.
- 2007
  Niles, Barton & Wilmer expands in the areas of Commercial Real Estate and Estates and Trusts.
- 2007
  Niles, Barton & Wilmer hires its first marketing director.
- 2007
  The “Bad Faith” statute, establishing a duty of good faith on first party carriers, comes to Maryland.
- 2007
  The Pennsylvania Superior Court holds that a Waiver of Subrogation provision in a construction contract is enforceable even though the insurer did not approve of or have notice of the provision. Insurers must protect themselves from such waivers.
- 2007
  The Federal Minimum Wage is increased.
- 2008
  Niles, Barton & Wilmer celebrates its 170th anniversary.
- 2008
  The Personal Information Protection Act requires that Maryland businesses implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices to protect personal information that they own or license.
- 2008
  The Concurrent Causation Clause is upheld by U.S.D.C. for the District of Maryland, rejecting an “efficient proximate causation” analysis.
- 2008
  The National Defense Authorization Act amends the Family and Medical Leave Act to provide new leave rights for families of servicemembers.
- 2008
  The Maryland Court of Special Appeals makes a decision that impacts employer practices regarding accrued, but unused leave. The Governor signs legislation enacted by the General Assembly that has the effect of retroactively reversing the Court opinion.
- 2008
  The Maryland Court of Appeals makes a decision in the case of Condominium Insurance that may radically alter insurance responsibilities among unit owners, condo associations and carriers.
- 2008
  Niles, Barton & Wilmer assists in the sale of Ireland’s prestigious Ashford Castle.
- 2008
  Niles, Barton & Wilmer supports Baltimore inner city youth as a mentoring firm for CLIA (Community Law in Action).
2010

2011
Provisions in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 expire.
2011
recommendations must be implemented, creating new jobs and opportunities for Maryland and surrounding areas.

Practice Areas: Admiralty and Maritime; Appellate Law; Business and Corporate Law; Commercial Litigation; Commercial Real Estate; Construction Law; Employment Law; Estates and Trusts; Fidelity and Surety Law; Insurance Law; Intellectual Property; Transportation and Shipping

At Niles Barton, the client-attorney relationship is clear: it’s built on trust and value.

Our clients appreciate the high standards we follow when it comes to work, client support, and accountability. We appreciate our clients and offer valuable legal advice. We’ve been doing this for 170 years. Now that’s service you can rely on.

My relationship with Niles Barton is extremely important to me for a number of reasons. The track record has already been laid down for ten years. They know our business very well, and they've been the most candid, honest part of the team about the challenges we face every time we get into a transaction.
-Francis X. Smyth
President, Century Engineering, Inc.

In the News

Tracy L. Steedman Designated as a LEED AP by the U.S. Green Building Council
Niles Barton is pleased to announce that Tracy L. Steedman, an associate in the firm’s construction practice, is now designated as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP™) by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Niles Barton Successfully Defends DASC, Inc. in a $20 Million Lawsuit
A Niles Barton trial team, headed by Owen J. Curley and including Jason E. Fetterman and M. David Stallings, successfully defended its client, DASC, a Prince George's County developer, from a claim of $20 million arising from a purchase option contract between the parties. For more information, please click here.
Niles Barton Hosts Green Leasing & Green Building Seminar
Niles Barton hosts a seminar on Green intentions can “LEED” to disputes on projects and leases: How to minimize your risk. The seminar will focus on 1) Green Leasing, 2) Green Building Risk, and 3) Smart Contracting Practices. Presenters will be Christopher J. Heffernan, Esq., Matthew L. Kimball, Esq., and Tracy L. Steedman, Esq.

Our clients appreciate the high standards we follow when it comes to work, client support, and accountability. We appreciate our clients and offer valuable legal advice. We’ve been doing this for 170 years. Now that’s service you can rely on.

In the News

Tracy L. Steedman Designated as a LEED AP by the U.S. Green Building Council

Niles Barton Successfully Defends DASC, Inc. in a $20 Million Lawsuit

Niles Barton Hosts Green Leasing & Green Building Seminar