J. JOSEPH CURRAN, JR.

J. Joseph Curran, Jr., was born in West Palm
Beach, Florida, on July 7, 1931. He attended
Baltimore parochial schools, Loyola High School,
the University of Baltimore, and the University of
Baltimore Law School (LL.B., 1959). Mr. Curran
served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean
conflict, with duty in Japan and Korea.

In 1986, Mr. Curran was elected Attorney
General of Maryland after serving four years as
Lieutenant Governor with Governor Harry
Hughes. In 1990, he won re-election handily.
Under Mr. Curran, the Maryland Attorney
General's Office has been a national leader in
consumer protection, criminal investigations,
Medicaid fraud prosecution, securities regulation
and antitrust enforcement. During Mr. Curran's
tenure, for the first time in State history, a jail
sentence has been imposed on defendants solely for
the commission of environmental crimes.

Long a proponent of sensible gun control laws,
Mr. Curran played a leading role in the successful
1986 handgun referendum to ban over-the-counter
sales of so-called Saturday-night specials in
Maryland.

In a landmark 1990 case, Maryland v. Craig,
Attorney General Curran successfully urged the U.S.
Supreme Court to uphold Maryland's law permitting
victims of child abuse to testify via one-way television.
In 1993, the Office, along with attorneys general from
other states, prevailed in the Supreme Court in a major
antitrust case against insurance companies. Under
Mr. Curran's direction, the Criminal Investigations
Division obtained fines and restitution of more than
$13 million and put 97 defendants behind bars.
Among those receiving prison sentences have been
suspected or convicted drug dealers who were
prosecuted for failing to pay State taxes on their
income from drug trafficking. The Division also has
prosecuted 10 individuals and corporations for fraud
under the State's minority business enterprise law.

The office's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has
been recognized repeatedly as one of the country's
best under Mr. Curran's leadership. Since 1986,
Maryland has been awarded more than $4.5 million
in restitution and fines as the result of the Unit's
more than 100 criminal prosecutions for fraud and
patient abuse. In 1992, Maryland received national
attention by becoming the first state to successfully
prosecute a physican for criminally neglecting his
nursing home patients.

The Attorney General's Consumer Protection
Division responds to 100,000 telephone calls a year,
handles 9,000 to 11,000 written complaints, and has
obtained several million dollars in restitution and fines.

The Health Education and Advocacy Unit alone
has recovered nearly $420,000 for consumers by
resolving billing disputes, and obtaining medical
services from health insurance companies and HMOs.

The Securities Division has initiated an average of
400 disciplinary actions each year against stockbrokers
and investment advisers. The Division has obtained
major settlements including one against a brokerage
firm which resulted in the return of $300,000 to
Maryland investors during 1992. During Mr.
Curran's tenure, the Securities Division also has
implemented the most comprehensive regulatory plan
for investment advisers in the country.

The Antitrust Division under Mr. Curran has
obtained criminal convictions of numerous persons
and businesses for rigging bids in State construction
and asbestos abatement contracts; spearheaded
nationwide settlements returning more than $50
million to consumers victimized by resale price
maintenance schemes in the consumer electronics
industry; thwarted a price-fixing agreement among
Baltimore area pharmacies that raised the cost of
prescriptions to HMO subscribers; and broadened
the availability of a new anti-psychotic drug for
schizophrenic patients by forcing its manufacturer
to halt an arrangement that rendered the drug
prohibitively expensive.

In the Attorney General's Office, Mr. Curran
established an in-house continuing education
program; encouraged assistant attorneys general to
handle pro bono cases; and appointed a Special
Assistant Attorney General to serve as attorney hiring
coordinator.

Attorney General Curran began his career in public
service in 1958 when he was elected to the House of