Practice Areas: Civil Litigation; Criminal Defense Law; Personal Injury Law; Interstate Adoptions; Wildlife Law; General Liability Defense

Admitted to Bar: 1980, Maryland and U.S. District Court, District of Maryland; 1984, U.S. Supreme Court; 2003, U.S. Court of Appeals (4th Circuit).

Law School: Wake Forest University, J.D. (1979)

Preparatory School & College: St. Andrew's School; Washington & Lee University, B.A., cum laude (1976)

Member: Kent County (President, 1996-1998), Maryland State (Member, Judicial Appointments Committee; Committee on the Resolution of Fee Disputes; Section on Litigation) and American (Member, Section on Litigation, Section on Sports and Entertainment Law) Bar Associations; Maryland Association for Justice; Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association; International Municipal Attorneys Association; Maryland Municipal Attorneys Association.

Biography: Recipient, American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence, 1978. Attorney, Town of Chestertown, 1997—present. Member, Peer Review Committee, Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission, 1998—present; Fellow, Maryland Bar Foundation (inducted 1998). Commissioned officer (Major) in the Maryland Defense Force. Licensed Maryland Title Insurance Agent.

Reported Cases:

David A. Bramble, Inc. v. Thomas, 396 Md. 443, 914 A.2d 136 (2007) (in a case of first impression in Maryland, persuaded Maryland's highest court to reverse both lower courts and hold that a property owner, for the purpose of discouraging the holder of a right of first refusal from exercising its right, may not insert into the triggering offer "poison pill" terms which it knows will be repugnant to the holder).

Gonzales v. Fairgale Properties Company, N.V., 241 F. Supp. 2d 512 (D.Md. 2002) (our motion to dismiss this declaratory judgment case was granted on the grounds that the U.S. District Court did not have subject matter jurisdiction because, based on the allegations in the Complaint, if the declaratory relief sought was issued, there would be no measurable or predictable pecuniary gain or loss to any party and, therefore, the amount-in-controversy requirement of federal court was not met).

Helinski v. C & P Telephone Company, 108 Md. App. 461, 672 A.2d 155 (1996)(obtained reversal of Circuit Court judgment by persuading the appellate court that an employee who filed a workers' compensation claim based on occupational disease should have until 2 years after she first learns that her disablement was caused by her employment to file a claim, and that the date of her "disablement" was the date she first missed work due to her symptoms).

Beck v. Mangels, 100 Md. App. 144, 640 A.2d 236 (1994), writ dismissed, 337 Md. 580, 655 A.2d 370 (1995) (prevailed after 3 day trial in Circuit Court establishing existence of an easement by necessity and that the location of the easement had changed over time; successfully defended the verdict in both of Maryland's appellate courts).

Imperial Hotel, Inc. v. Bell Atlantic Tri-Con Leasing Corp., 91 Md. App. 266, 603 A.2d 1371 (1992) (obtained reversal of Circuit Court decision to enroll a foreign default judgment on grounds that the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act required the Circuit Court first to determine whether, under NJ law, the NJ court had personal jurisdiction over my Kent County clients).

Houghton v. County Commissioners, 305 Md. 407, 504 A.2d 1145 (1986), recon. den., 307 Md. 216, 513 A.2d 291 (1986) (clarifying what constitutes a final judgment for purposes of filing an appeal).