By: Jon Sham

With the new year came the swearing in of Baltimore City’s new state’s attorney, Gregg Bernstein, whose ceremony was attended by many. Another major story this week was a ruling on handgun laws. It’s all in this week’s top 5 staff law stories:

1. O’Malley declines to seat elected Baltimore Orphans’ Court judge – by Steve Lash

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley will follow the advice of counsel and not seat Ramona Moore Baker, a non-lawyer, on the Orphans’ Court of Baltimore City — even though she was elected to the bench in November, the governor’s office said Tuesday.

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, in an advisory opinion, told O’Malley last month that seating Baker would violate the state constitution. That’s because on the same day Baker won her seat, state voters approved a constitutional amendment that only permits Maryland attorneys to be Orphans’ Court judges in Baltimore.

2. Bernstein’s swearing in well attended – by Brendan Kearney

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein took his ceremonial oath of office Tuesday evening at a grand courthouse gathering that brimmed with optimism about the new top prosecutor while acknowledging the difficulty of his task.

The first such event since 1964, the swearing in seemed to be the temporary center of Baltimore’s political and legal world. Congressmen, judges and dozens of other public officials packed the courtroom as Bernstein’s longtime friends told funny stories, praised his diligence and integrity and wished him well.

3. Maryland handgun laws ruled outside scope of Second Amendment – by Danny Jacobs

Maryland’s law restricting gun possession outside the home without a permit does not conflict with recent Supreme Court rulings that the constitutional right to keep and bear arms extends to individuals, Maryland’s highest court held Wednesday.

The Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the 2008 conviction of Charles Francis Williams Jr., who bought his handgun legally but was arrested outside his home for violating a state provision on carriage and transport. Williams challenged his conviction based on District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago, Supreme Court decisions from 2008 and last year, respectively, that extended Second Amendment rights to individuals and to the states.

4. Exxon lawyer apologizes to Jacksonville residents – by Danny Jacobs

For the second time in 27 months, James F. Sanders offered an apology Tuesday on behalf of Exxon Mobil Corp. to Jacksonville residents for a massive gasoline leak that contaminated their water supply in 2006.

“We are sorry. This should not have happened. Our system of protection broke down,” he said at the start of his opening statement, seemingly addressing both jurors and dozens of plaintiffs in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

5. Bernstein names former state budget chief to post – by Brendan Kearney

On his first day in office, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein named the final member of his leadership team: former Secretary of the Maryland Department of Budget and Management Cecilia Januszkiewicz will be his executive assistant state’s attorney for administration.

Januszkiewicz, Bernstein’s colleague in private practice and an assistant attorney general for 15 years before joining former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’s administration in 2005, joins Chief Assistant State’s Attorney George Hazel and Executive Assistant State’s Attorney for Policy and Planning Elizabeth Embry as the new top prosecutor’s deputy. Hazel and Embry were named almost a month ago, but their exact titles weren’t revealed until Monday.