1 week Ago By WILL BONTRAGER [email protected]
CHESTERTOWN — The First Friday event of April brought friends, neighbors and visitors to downtown Chestertown. Some of those stopped by the law offices of Campbell and Furneisen to celebrate their one-year anniversary. Partners Bridget Campbell and Ivette Furneisen were both nominated for Eastern Shore’s 2024 Women to Watch.
And according to their website, Furneisen is “one of very few Spanish-speaking lawyers on the shore, and possibly the only native Spanish-speaking, Furneisen has quickly gained a reputation as a friend to Hispanics and other immigrants in the area, helping with traffic and family court, visas, and applications for citizenship.” Furneisen said this anniversary is a significant celebration due to that distinction. Over sparkling beverages and catering courtesy of Happy Chicken, and while balancing conversation with friends and well-wishers, Furneisen briefed shared some of her concerns, and why she feels like her work is more vital than ever.
It started, she said, 15 years ago. In her home country of Spain, she was working for a nonprofit doing immigration work. She extended that realm of her expertise studying law at George Mason University.
Ultimately she and her husband who worked for American Airlines, discovered Kent County. And now a year in, advocating for Spanish speakers mainly, she expressed she is not liking what she is seeing coming from the White House, specifically among US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials (ICE). Furneisen, not getting too far into the weeds during a celebratory event, provided some general examples of ICE detaining her clients after being caught in offenses such as traffic violations.
These incidences she described as injustice, and is why she decided to pursue law further. “Everyone deserves representation. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor,” Furneisen stated.
She takes a lot of cases from the public defender’s office, those who normally could not afford a lawyer. “Now, I can be an advocate for them. And not just in the courts.
I really care,” she said. The other half of the firm is Bridget Campbell. She handles family law, real estate, business formation and other practices.
Like her legal partner, Campbell’s very grateful to be representing Kent County, and with both of them working jointly, they cast a wide net of services. Some of the most rewarding work is representing children as a best interest attorney, Campbell said. It is her job to advocate for children, give them a voice, and from those assessments persuade the judge to act on the children’s best interest.
This involves talking to the parents, the therapists and the children, being present for them in their time of need, Campbell said. As a mother of three boys, this is very near to her heart, as she reflects on her time studying law at Villanova, before attending Washington College. Originally born in Pennsylvania, she has established roots here, getting involved in the community.
She is president of the Kent County Humane Society, dedicated to promoting animal welfare, “preventing unnecessary pain and suffering for domestic companions in the community.” Both attorneys sees themselves reaching beyond their law profession to help those in need. “Ivette and I find a way to give back to the community every way we can,” Campbell said.
At that moment, it was to be a good host as people bumped into each other to congratulate them. Just outside the firm, for the third year in a row, the food truck by Blue Monkey Street Tacos was posted next door, sponsored by Campell’s sister-in-law, Liddy Campbell Vandemark, real estate agent of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty. They work in the same building as the firm at 210 South Cross Street.
On First Friday from April through the Downrigging event in November, the food truck will post up there, providing the public a savory outdoor dining option situated next to Ajax Park. Campbell Vandemark, also involved in Mainstreet Chestertown, thought the turnout was good for the first Friday in April. “The weather helps,” she said with a smile.
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