Loring E. Hawes ’51

Loring E. Hawes ’51, of Centreville, Md.; May 20, of COVID-19 complications. He was a retired Baltimore attorney who was part of a 1964 public accommodations civil rights case and who was later a leader in Eastern Shore conservation efforts.  He began his legal career in Baltimore as an associate practicing general law at Pierson & Pierson from 1957 to 1960 and at Constable, Alexander & Daneker. He was assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland from 1962 to 1968. He argued criminal and civil appellate cases in the Maryland Court of Appeals. He developed regulations and procedures for the water resources agency and Department of Agriculture and drafted legislation for revenue bonds, water and air pollution, strip mining, and public authority for cost-sharing dam construction projects. In 1964, he briefed and argued Bell v. Maryland, a textbook civil rights case in the U.S. Supreme Court. It involved the arrest of sit-in protesters at a restaurant in Baltimore City. It was among several important cases of reference that contributed to the drafting of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also served as Special Assistant Attorney General to the University of Maryland from 1964 to 1968, where he negotiated contracts for an advanced cyclotron on the College Park campus and handled other legal affairs. In 1968 he joined Commercial Credit Company in Baltimore as an associate and was eventually promoted to deputy general counsel and assistant secretary. During his 20-year tenure, he gained strong expertise in corporate finance, securities, and banking law, and managed the international legal staff. His company became part of Citigroup after a series of acquisitions. From 1988 to 2000, he finished out his career as a corporate lawyer with Gordon, Feinblatt, Hoffberger & Hollander LLC in Baltimore. He was a board member of the Mt. Royal Democratic Club and the Mt. Royal Improvement Association and headed the PTA of Public School No. 66. He was a charter member of the Bolton Hill Swim & Tennis Club and a regular patron of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Centre Stage. He is survived