# Paul L. Cordish

Paul L. Cordish (1909–2003) was an attorney and a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, he was also a businessman who worked for the Cordish Company and the founder of the Cordish Law Firm.

## Early life and education

Cordish was born in Baltimore in 1909, he was a 1926 graduate of the Park School of Baltimore and earned his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University. He earned his law degree, with honors, from Yale Law School in 1932. His father, Louis Cordish, was a cigar manufacturer who founded the Cordish Company in 1910 and served as the first president of the Shaarei Tfiloh Synagogue.

## Career

After law school, in 1932, he founded the Cordish Law Firm and in 1933, he joined the Baltimore-based, family real estate business, the Cordish Company, founded by his father Louis Cordish in 1910. Cordish Law serves as the legal arm of Cordish Company. In 1934, Cordish was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates to represent the 4th legislative district in Baltimore City. He became the leader of what was then called the liberal bloc. From 1940 to 1941, he was the chairman of the House Committee on Intergovernmental Cooperation. He voted against the formidable lobby representing bar and saloon owners, and sought to strike out a requirement that witnesses and jurors profess belief in God. From 1963 to 1966, he served as president of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. In this position, he was able to collect $3 million from the West German government for Nazi victims of the Holocaust in Baltimore.

## Personal life

He married Ethel Patz; they had three sons: Joel A. Cordish of Jerusalem; Michael Cordish of Rehovot, Israel; and David S. Cordish of Baltimore. Ethel passed away at the age of 38. In 1957, he married his second wife, Sylvia Cohn Bloom. He also has three stepchildren: Howard Paul Bloom of Lake Hill, N.Y.; Susan F. Abramson of Finksburg; and Marilyn E. Bloom of Pleasant Hill, California. His son Joel was beaten and paralyzed in an attack when he was a Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan. His sons, Joel and Michael, became Orthodox Jews and moved to Israel. Joel died in 2010.
He died on April 8, 2003, and was interred at Shaarei Tfiloh Congregation Cemetery.

## Past general election results

* 1938 Race for Maryland House of Delegates – 4th District
       Voters to choose six:
    Name Votes Outcome Leon Abramson, Democratic 13,113  Won Jerome Robinson, Democratic 13,005  Won Bernard S. Melnicove, Democratic 12,979  Won Leon A. Rubenstein, Democratic 12,902  Won Albert L. Sklar, Democratic 12,727  Won Paul L. Cordish, Democratic 12,671  Won W. A. C. Hughes, Jr., Republican 11,817  Lost Arthur E. Briscoe, Republican 11,750  Lost Sarah Fernandis Diggs, Republican 11,664  Lost William Isaac Gosnell, Republican 11,556  Lost Fannie A. Coplan, Republican 11,296  Lost Benjamin M. Haughey, Republican 10,609  Lost Albert E. Blumberg, Independent 578  Lost

## References and notes

* 1 2 3 4 Briggs, Johnathon E. (April 9, 2003). "Paul L. Cordish, 93, founder of law firm, city delegate". The Baltimore Sun.
* ↑ "Five Questions: David Cordish". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
* ↑ Alvarez, Rafael (May 21, 1995). "At 75, Synagogue still calls Baltimore home". The Baltimore Sun. pp. 1A, 20A – via Newspapers.com.
* ↑ Cordish Companies: Legal Archived 2014-11-21 at the Wayback Machine retrieved September 22, 2014
* ↑ Bloodhorse.com: "Five Questions: David Cordish" by Evan Hammonds January 18, 2010
* ↑ Cordish Companies: People Archived 2014-11-21 at the Wayback Machine retrieved September 21, 2014
* ↑ "Maryland Manual, 1940-41, Volume 159, Page 134". Archives of Maryland Online. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013.
* 1 2 Hiaasen, Rob (February 4, 1996). "Power Play Look homeward: David Cordish relishes the challenge of a project in his own city". The Baltimore Sun. pp. 1, 4 – via Newspapers.com.
* ↑ Kelly, Jacques (August 15, 2010). "Joel Abraham Cordish dies at 67". Baltimore Sun.
* ↑ "Paul L. Cordish Obituary". The Baltimore Sun. April 10, 2003.
* ↑ "House of Delegates Results". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved on Nov. 24, 2013