Collaborative Practice Baltimore

Ellen A. Callegary, Esq.

Ellen A. Callegary, Esq., a practicing attorney for 40 years and a founding partner of the Law Offices of Ellen A. Callegary, P.A., focuses on family law, special education and disability issues. Ellen is trained in civil and family law mediation. She is a founding member of The Collaborative Professionals of Baltimore and handles collaborative family law cases. She represents children and adults with disabilities to help them get appropriate services such as special education and rehabilitation services throughout the state. She also helps families through the guardianship, mental health, and health care decision making processes.

Ellen A. Callegary is the Co-Editor of “Guardianship and Its Alternatives: A Handbook on Maryland Law”, a joint publication of The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and the Maryland State Bar Association.

Ms. Callegary has a long history of involvement in disability issues. During her ten years as an assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland, she worked directly with two Attorneys General advising state agencies on matters related to the rights of persons with disabilities and serving as principal counsel for the Department of Juvenile Services. She has lectured extensively on special education and health law and taught an AIDS Legal Clinic and a Mental Health Law Clinic as a clinical law professor at the University of Maryland School of Law where has also taught the “Civil Rights of Persons with Disabilities Seminar” as an adjunct professor. In 2003, Ellen completed three years as the Chair of the Juvenile Law Committee of The Bar Association of Baltimore City. She was a member of the Maryland’s State Bar Association Section Council on Elder Law and Disability Rights Law and is a member of the Family Law Section of The Bar Association of Baltimore City. Ellen was the President of the Board of the Mosaic Community Services. She is currently on the Board of the Collaborative Professionals of Baltimore. She’s a former board member of the First Maryland Disabilities Trust. Ellen is a member of the Education Advocacy Coalition for Students with Disabilities.

Ms. Callegary is the author of The IDEA’s Promise Unfulfilled: A Second Look at Special Education & Related Services for Children with Mental Health Needs After Garret F, 5 J. Health Care LAW. & Policy 164 (2002) and author of Chapter 2, “Consent & Competency” in “Best Practices in Developmental Disabilities: A Maryland Resource”, Office of External Affairs, University of Maryland (2005). She is the Co-Author of “A Special Education Primer“, Md. Bar Journal Vol. XXXIII, Number 2.

Education and Licenses

  • Ms. Callegary is an honors graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law (now known as University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law).
  • Ellen is an honors undergraduate of the Johns Hopkins University.
  • Ms. Callegary is licensed to practice in the:
    • State of Maryland: Court of Appeals of Maryland, 11/15/1978;
    • United States District Court for the District of Maryland, 4/27/1979;
    • United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals 11/18/2002; and
    • The Supreme Court of the United States, 10/11/2013.

Association and Awards

  • Appointed Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland, 5/1/1979
  • Awarded Exceptional Service Award by the State of Maryland Office of the Attorney General, 6/18/1981
  • Received Certificate of Recognition by Disabled Advocates, Inc. “for untiring efforts and service in the welfare and rehabilitation for the disabled”, 4/14/1984
  • Appointed by the Attorney General for the State of Maryland as Counsel to Juvenile Services Agency, 9/1/1987
  • Awarded Governor’s Citation – recognizing Commitment to servicing Developmentally Disabled Citizens as part of her work for the Maryland State Planning “Council on Developmental Disabilities, 6/30/1988
  • Awarded The Arc of Baltimore’s Stanley S. Herr Award for Advocacy Leadership, 5/2/2007
  • “The Daily Record” named Ellen one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women for 2000, 2004, and 2008 putting her in “The Circle of Excellence” as a three-time awardee.
  • Ellen is a past president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland.
  • Ellen is a former Woman’s Law Center Board Member.
  • Received Award of Scholarly Excellence for authoring “The IDEA’s Promise Unfulfilled…” The Journal of Health Care Law and Policy.
  • Ellen received “Baltimore Magazine’s Top Attorney in Maryland” recognition in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
  • The Senate of Maryland gave recognition of Ellen’s appointment as a member of the Commission on Special Education Access and Equity, 8/29/2013
  • Received Certificate of Recognition for her years of service as a board member and for her leadership as the President of the Board of Directors Mosaic Community Services, Inc, 2011-2017
  • Ellen was awarded the “NAFLA 2019 Top 10 Attorney Award” for excellence in the field of Family Law.
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