COURT COMMISSION ON PROFESSIONALISM

Rignal W. Baldwin, Jr., Esq.; Richard D. Bennett; J. Donald Braden, Esq.; Abraham A. Dash; Mark J. Davis, Esq.; David W. Densford, Esq.; Karen Federman-Henry, Esq.; Robert L. Ferguson, Jr., Esq.; Robert J. Greenleaf, Esq.; Felecia Love Greer, Esq.; Cornelius D. Helfrich, Esq.; Kristy D. Hickman, Esq.; Jeannie J. Hong; William C. Hudson, Esq.; V. Randy Jackson, Esq.; William H. Jones, Esq.; Linda H. Lamone, Esq.; Benson E. Legg; Steven P. Lemmey, Esq.; Thomas E. Lynch III, Esq.; Nicholas J. Monteleone, Esq.; Michael Francis O'Connor, Esq.; Linda Sorg Ostovitz, Esq.; James L. Otway, Esq.; Deborah Lynne Potter, Esq.; Charles M. (Mike) Preston, Esq.; James P. Salmon; C. Daniel Saunders, Esq.; Danny R. Seidman, Esq.; Dwight C. Stone, Esq.; Norman L. Smith, Esq.; Dennis M. Sweeney; Daryl T. Walters, Esq.; Byron L. Warnken; Dana O. Williams, Esq.; William P. Young, Jr., Esq.

Ex officio: J. Michael Conroy, Jr., President, Maryland State Bar Association

Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building, Annapolis, Maryland, May 2004. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

Contact: Jacqueline G. Lee

Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building, 361 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 260-1565
e-mail: jacqueline.lee@mdcourts.gov

• Report, May 31, 2006

In February 2004, the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals established the Court Commission on Professionalism, as recommended by the Professionalism Task Force. From September 2002 to July 2003, the Professionalism Task Force held town meetings across the State with local lawyers and judges as participants. From these meetings, a consensus was reached that professionalism was declining, marked by rancorous courtroom disputes over discovery and loss of trust between lawyers. The Task Force also noted a lack of civility in and out of the courtroom; less traditional mentoring of new lawyers; more unauthorized practice of law; increased advertising for legal services; and fewer attorneys involved in bar association activities.

The Court Commission on Professionalism studied aspects of professional conduct and developed methods to raise professionalism throughout the judicial and legal professions. Such methods included mentoring new attorneys; setting standards of conduct; sanctioning attorneys; and mandating courses of professional behavior.

Commission members included judges; lawyers from each county and Baltimore City; the President of the Maryland State Bar Association; and representatives from the Attorney Grievance Commission, the Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, the Judicial Disabilities Commission, the University of Maryland School of Law, and the University of Baltimore School of Law.

The Commission submitted its report to the Court of Appeals on May 31, 2006.

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