YCBA Bar Legend - Gilbert Malone, Esq.
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
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As a YCBA Bar Legend, we asked Attorney Malone to share his perspective of the evolution of the practice of law and involvement with the York County Bar and its impact on his life and career. While I clerked for Stock & Leader in the summer of 1961 and was admitted to the York County Bar in early January 1964, I did not actually begin practice of law in York County until January 1967 after completing three years of active military service. Starting my practice in York County, like most lawyers at that time, I participated in most phases of legal work, even representing defendants in a couple of criminal cases, while today, most everyone is very specialized. To the extent that I specialized in the early years of practice, it was handling small litigation matters for Stock & Leader and assisting Ross McGinnis with the larger ones. Later on, after I left Stock & Leader, my practice gravitated to primarily real estate and municipal representations. Now, real estate practice has largely evaporated, with the Realtors owning their own title companies, and time and political change have substantially reduced my municipal representations. But for some reason, I am more involved in litigation practice. |  Gilbert G. Malone, Esq.,
Attorney at Law, Malone & Neubaum | | Back when I started, the Bar, of course, was much smaller. There were only four (4) judges. In a few years, I knew most all of the county's lawyers. I would see them in the Recorder's Office searching titles, at the call of the argument list or at the call of the trial list. In those days, there was oral argument on all motions. Before a case was tried, you had to call it for trial at the call of the trial list. Everyone had divorce clients and you would go before a Master, the appointment of which was rotated among members of the Bar. Although most law firms had substantial libraries of their own, you would see lawyers in the excellent law library maintained by the County which included among other things, appellate court reports from all over the country and lower court reports from each county in the state. Now, things are very different. Family lawyers are in a world of their own. You never see them, don't know who they are. Other lawyers sit in their offices with their own areas of practice. You are supposed to do legal research on your computer, isolated in your office. You only encounter the few lawyers who are engaged in the same area of practice as you are. I probably would recognize no more than about twenty (20%) percent of lawyers if I saw them on the street. When I started, if you saw a lady around the Court House, you would assume she was a secretary. There was only one female lawyer. Now, they are fast becoming the majority. Back then, documents were prepared on a Selectric typewriter using carbon paper. If there was a mistake, or if you wanted to change something, your secretary had to start all over. There were no computers, fax machines, email or photocopiers. If you needed to make a large number of copies of something, you had to use a mimeograph machine. Because you needed your first draft of a document to be mistake free, before I would dictate a draft I would hand write it out to minimize the potential for mistakes. Now I dictate a rough draft knowing that with little effort, my paralegal can make necessary corrections. Back then, we wrote letters or talked to people on the phone. No emails. With respect to character and civility of members of the Bar, I do not agree that that has changed for the worse. You have to think back. There were a number of lawyers back then who were disbarred and others that should have been. When asked what his favorite thing about being a lawyer and a YCBA Bar Member Gil said: Being a lawyer givers you independence, a variety of skills and the ability to help people. I think the biggest benefit are the CLE courses and I enjoyed the Bar Dances that we used to have. - Gilbert G. Malone, Esq.
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