About A. Dwight Pettit

Pettit attended Howard University from 1963 until 1967, where he earned his bachelor’s of arts degree. While at Howard, Pettit played football, participated in the ROTC program, reaching the rank of colonel and pledged Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. While at Howard, he received the Holland Ware award for the student athlete demonstrating all around athletic and academic ability. Pettit earned his law degree from Howard in 1970.

In 1970, Pettit began his career as a trial attorney for the Small Business Administration under President Richard Nixon. His duties included preparing briefs for the Department of Justice on fraud cases involving SBA loans. He litigated his first private case, Pettit vs. the United States. The case received national acclaim and is considered a landmark decision, setting the standard for back pay awards in discrimination cases. In 1973, Pettit brought the first suit in the country against Maryland for discrimination in the bar examination. The case would lead to other states changing its testing practices. In 1973, Pettit left the SBA and formed Mitchell, Pettit, David and Gill and later his own practice.

Pettit handled many high profile criminal and personal injury cases. In 1977, he won Scott v. Sutton Place, which determined that Maryland landlords have responsibility and are liable for criminal activity on their property. In 1983, he won his first million-dollar judgment against the Washington, D.C. Transit Authority in the accident case, Goodwin v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation. Pettit continues to practice law in Baltimore, where he resides with his wife, Barbara.

Areas of experience

• General Practice of Law: 1973 to present.
• Assistant Public Defender: Baltimore City from August 1973 to April 1974.
• District Counsel: Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C. from February 1972 to August 1973.
• Lecturer: Federal City College in Washington, D.C. from May 1972 to August 1973
• Trial Attorney: Office of Litigation of General Counsel Staff Small Business • Administration from March 1971 to February 1972.

Awards

• 2005 Alumni Award from Howard University Alumni Chapter, Baltimore
• Young Lawyer of the Year Award; Monumental Bar Association (1974)
• Outstanding Achievement Award; Howard University Alumni (1978)
• Distinguished Service Citation; Baltimore Frontiers Club (1977, 1978)
• Law and Service Outstanding Achievement Award; Baltimore Howard University Alumni (1980)
• Outstanding Abilities in Leadership, Community Service, Economic Achievements and Humanitarian Award; Minority Business Directory (1985)
• Lawyer of the Year; Lift Every Voice and Sing Foundation (2000 and 2001)

Boards

• Member, Prince Hall Masons
• Member, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity
• Board of Directors/Education Committee, NAACP
• Board of Directors, Provident Hospital
• Board of Directors, Champ Incorporated
• Board of Minority Affairs, The Johns Hopkins University
• Board of Directors, Business Resources Center
• Loan Committee Member, Baltimore Community Investment Company
• Co-Chairman, Fundraising Committee of the YMCA
• Board of Directors, United Way
• Original Board of Directors/Incorporators, Harbor National Bank
• Member, Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland (2003)

Professional associations

• American Bar Association
• Attorney Grievance Inquiry Panel
• Baltimore City Bar Association
• District of Columbia Bar
• Maryland Bar Association
• Maryland Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
• Maryland Trial Lawyers Association
• Monumental Bar, Past President
• National Bar Association
• Nebraska Bar

Political involvement

• Co-Chairman for Jimmy Carter (1976) — Maryland Primary and General Presidential Campaigns.
• National Finance Committee, Jimmy Carter Presidential Campaign
• Floor Whip, National Democratic Convention (1976)
• Delegate-at-Large, National Democratic Convention (1976)
• Jimmy Carter Transition Committee (1976)
• Presidential Inauguration Host Committee (1976)
• Member, Compliance Review Commission for the National Democratic Party (1978-80)
• Jessie Jackson Presidential Campaign Chairman, Baltimore City (1984)
• Member, Democrats for Ehrlich (2002)

National T.V. appearances

• CNN
• MSNBC (police shootings)
• The Maury Povich Show — Mike Tyson
• The Leeza Show — Mike Tyson

About Latoya A. Francis-Williams, ESQ.

Mrs. Francis-Williams is not afraid to take the lead on controversial matters assisting 26 judges on the law as a Judicial Clerk. Using the freedom of being an independent thinker and passion for the law to effect change both within and outside the legal community, Mrs. Francis-Williams has been involved in a number of worthy efforts to help those in need from working with the Roper Victim Assistance Academy of Maryland to beginning an apprenticeship program for minority law students. She is an intensely passionate thinker in both the civil and criminal arenas and always uses her powers of persuasion for good. She is a major proponent of safeguarding the fundamental rights of all people and is not afraid to fight to preserve them. As a result of her efforts, Mrs. Francis-Williams was recently awarded the prestigious Black Law Students Association Image Award in 2011 and Alumnus of the year in 2012. Mrs. Francis-Williams began her own law practice, The Law Office of Latoya A. Francis-Williams, LLC., in 2012, focusing her practice areas on civil and criminal defense work, domestic matter, victims’ rights and Fair Housing practices. Shortly thereafter, Attorney Francis-Williams began working with the world renown, Law Offices of A. Dwight Pettit, P.A., expanding her repertoire to include personal injury, and police brutality/excessive force cases.     

Currently, Mrs. Francis-Williams chairs the Membership Committee for Monumental City Bar Association. Founded in part by the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in 1935 as a coalition of Black lawyers promoting justice for all people, Monumental City Bar Association remains one of the premier Bar Associations in the State of Maryland. Mrs. Francis-Williams is also a member of the National Bar Association (NBA), Alliance of Black Women Attorneys (ABWA), American Bar Association (ABA), Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity (PDP).         

In addition, Mrs. Francis-Williams can be seen making career connections for minority law students through “The Practice,” an apprenticeship program she began her last year of law school with the assistance and generosity of the great Attorney William “Billy” H. Murphy, Jr., Esq.

Mrs. Francis-Williams have years of experience in the business of uplifting the black community through community development and now the practice of law. In her free time she enjoys exercising and spending time with her husband and daughter.

About Tierra Gregory

Born to solve problems, Tierra Gregory spent her early career as a software engineer at Lockheed Martin Corporation. During that time, she cultivated and ran a small retail company. She brings both corporate experience and entrepreneurship to her law practice.

Ms. Gregory is an associate attorney at The Law Office of A. Dwight Pettit, where she handles a variety of cases involving personal injury, premises and products liability, torts, wrongful death other general litigation claims for clients in Maryland.

In her private practice, Ms. Gregory represents entrepreneurs, companies and artists attain a stronghold on their business, brands, and other intellectual property. Ms. Gregory is available for keynote speaking, panels, classes and events. Ms. Gregory is especially effective at energizing youth to explore their options, and pursue possibilities to reach their full potential.

Professional Affiliations

• Maryland State Bar Association
• Monumental City Bar Association
• Alliance of Black Women Attorneys
• Western High School
• Loyola College in Maryland
• University of Baltimore Law School

https://tierragregory.attorney/