H. Thomas Howell, a trial attorney whose legal arguments helped overturn the mail-fraud conviction of former Gov. Marvin Mandel, died of a heart attack last Sunday at his Lutherville home. He was 77.
"Tom was one of the great legal minds of our day," said Stuart R. Berger, a judge on Maryland's Court of Special Appeals. "He wrote poetically and was an extraordinary researcher. He worked behind the scenes and wrote brilliant legal arguments."
Born in Chicago and raised in Towson, he was the son of Harley W. Howell, a founder of the PHH Group, an auto fleet management firm, and Geneva Engelmann, a homemaker. He was a 1955 graduate of Towson High School, and he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Princeton University, where he was president of the University Press Club and was the local correspondent for The New York Times and the Philadelphia Bulletin. His biography said he spent two summers working for the Daily Express in England. He went on to earn a law degree from Yale University.
He was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1962 and was a clerk for Judge Simon E. Sobeloff, a former solicitor general of the United States. He served in the Army and left military service as a captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps.
In 1966 he joined Semmes, Bowen & Semmes, a Baltimore law firm. He was named a partner in 1972 and worked in civil rights, insurance, health care, medical malpractice and consumer protection, among other areas. For many years he worked closely with attorney Norman Ramsey, who also headed the Baltimore City school board and was later a federal judge.
"Tom was a fine gentleman and an extraordinarily talented lawyer. He was liked and respected by all who dealt with him," said a fellow attorney, Arnold M. Weiner, who defended Governor Mandel in the 1970s.
Mr. Howell was twice placed on a list of names to be considered for a judgeship.
"He was a superlative lawyer," said M. Albert Figinski, a retired attorney who lives in Columbia. "He wrote wonderfully and spoke eloquently. He had a strong sense of right and wrong."
In 1987, when the Supreme Court restricted the scope of the federal mail-fraud statute, Mr. Howell began working with other attorneys to overturn the conviction of Governor Mandel and his co-defendants, who had been convicted in 1977.
"Tom sat down and wrote a brief that absolutely sang," said William Gately, an attorney and friend with whom he formed a legal partnership. "His legal mind was fertile and sharp. His writing was some of the best that came through the court system in the last 100 years."
Albert D. Brault, an attorney who lives in Rockville, worked with Mr. Howell on several cases. "He was the best legal writer I have ever known. He was fabulous. His personality was quiet and unassuming. But he was always fun to be with. I have worked with many lawyers over the years, and Tom stands out."
For more than three decades Mr. Howell served on the board of directors of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He also served on the boards of the Sheppard Pratt Health System, the Maryland Historical Society and Sinai Hospital.
He was elected a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
"He was a major history buff," said his daughter, Shelley A. Donald of Reisterstown. "He was a complete workaholic. He was always at work at something, and it seems like every Christmas he would give us a genealogy book he had just published."
Earlier this month Mr. Howell had another of his works published. Titled "Eleanor's Pursuit," it is a biography of Eleanor Pendleton, a Broadway actress from Baltimore known for her beauty and dancing. Most of his research focused on his family's history.
"As an impudent young pup I badgered my relatives to tell me about those who preceded them and I copied down what I heard," he wrote in an autobiographical sketch.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Jan. 9 at Towson United Methodist Church, 501 Hampton Lane, where he was a member.
In addition to his daughter, survivors include his wife of 31 years, the former Aliceann McLaughlin; two other daughters, Rebecca L. Howell of Timonium and Emily S. Howell of Richmond, Calif.; a sister, Diane Howell Mitchell of Glen Arm; and two grandsons. His 1960 marriage to the former Gloria Ann Langhorn ended in divorce.