Rollins, Smalkin, Richards and Mackie, LLC was founded in 1919 and is one of the oldest, continually operating litigation firms in the State of Maryland. H. Beale Rollins, the original founder of the Firm, was born in Baltimore in 1898. He attended McDonogh School and remained dedicated to his Alma Mater until his death in 1985, which was reflected in his generosity to the school. It could be said that McDonogh was Beale’s home in every sense of the word.
After graduating from McDonough, Beale entered the University of Maryland Law School and earned his degree at the age of twenty. Just one year later in 1919, while employed by Employers Insurance Group as a claims supervisor, Beale opened his private practice under the name of “Law Offices of H. Beale Rollins.”
Subsequently, Samuel S. Smalkin, F. Gray Goudy and T. Benjamin Weston joined Beale’s Firm not only practicing law but adjusting claims for various insurance companies, Greyhound Bus Lines and self-insured trucking firms.
In 1941, Beale helped found The Association of Insurance Attorneys, which furnished legal and adjusting services to the insurance industry. He served as its fourth president several years later. In 1988, the Association changed its name to the Association of Defense Trial attorneys with a membership that has expanded nationwide and to the District of Columbia. Puerto Rico and the Province of Canada.
During World War II, Mr. Gray Goudy took leave from the practice of law to enlist in the U.S. Army. When the war ended, he returned to the Firm which was then named “Rollins, Smalkin, Goudy and Weston.”
In 1953, Gray Goudy left the Firm to join his brother, Chester Goudy, father of the former Judge Chester Goudy, Jr. of the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, in the practice of law, and Raymond Richards became an Associate of the Firm.
Two years later, Thomas G. Andrew, house counsel for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, joined the Firm as a partner and it became known as “Rollins, Smalkin, Weston and Andrew.”
Thereafter, Edward Mackie, an Allstate Insurance Supervisor; and Donald C. Allen, Leo Hughes, Jr. and Robert J. Thieblot became associates. Eventually Donald Allen, Leo Hughes, and Robert Thieblot left the Firm to form the Firm of Allen, Thieblot and Hughes.
John F. Linsenmeyer, a former law clerk of the late Judge Joseph L. Carter and a trial lawyer for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Thomas C. Gentner and Glenn W. Trimmer, former Allstate Claims Managers, became associates with the Firm in 1970 and 1971.
Following Mr. Andrew’s death in 1973, the Firm became known as “Rollins, Smalkin, Weston, Richards and Mackie.” In 1974, John Linsenmeyer, Thomas Gentner and Glenn Trimmer became Partners of the Firm.
Upon Mr. Weston’s death in 1980, the Firm changed its name to “Rollins, Smalkin, Richards and Mackie.” After Mr. Smalkin’s death in 1982, Patrick G. Cullen, formerly of the Law Firm of “Larch and Huesman,” joined the Firm as a partner. Between 1983 and 1991, James P. O’Meara, Ralph Wilson and Paul Donoghue joined the Firm and eventually became partners.
On December 31, 1989 and January 1, 1992, Ray Richards and Ed Mackie retired, respectively. James P. O’Meara served as Managing Partner until July of 2014, at which point, James R. Andersen became the Firm’s newest leader. The Firm's current partners are James R. Andersen, Tara A. Barnes, Paul G. Donoghue, Alicyn C. Campbell, Benjamin A. Beasley, and Ashley M. Bond.
Previously, the Firm was located in the Title Building at Lexington and St. Paul Streets for more than 50 years. In 1984 the Firm acquired and restored a historic four-story building at 401 N. Charles Street which it occupied until 2019.
The Firm is now located at the First National Bank Building at 300 E. Lombard St., Suite 900, Baltimore, MD 21202.
