Justice addresses concerns of ‘delays’ at MD Appellate Court

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To the editor,

A recent editorial raised concerns about “delays” in the Appellate Court of Maryland. On behalf of my colleagues, I would like to offer some insight into this court’s commitment to resolving appeals fairly and the processes that support that mission.

The judges of the Appellate Court pride themselves on writing thorough opinions in the cases that come before the court. We feel it is important to both the litigants and the public to explain our decisions in detail so that there is no ambiguity about why we reached a particular result, the facts upon which we relied, or the relevant law applied in the case.

The Administrative Office of the Courts established several time standards related to case disposition for the Appellate Court of Maryland: (1) resolving 90% of cases within nine months of oral argument or submission on brief, (2) resolving 100% of cases within one year of oral argument or submission on brief, and (3) resolving 100% of appeals involving expedited child access issues within 60 days of oral argument or submission on brief.

In fiscal year 2025, we resolved nearly 92% of our criminal and civil cases within nine months and almost 97% within one year. As for child access cases, we resolved over 98% within 60 days of argument or submission on brief as required under the applicable Maryland Rule. Of course, our goal is to reach a 100% completion rate under all three time standards. Some opinions, however, simply take longer than others to research and write due to the complexity and number of issues presented.

Some appeals can be resolved quickly, such as where the facts are straightforward and often undisputed, and where the legal issues can be readily resolved based on settled law. We strive to identify these cases upon the filing of both parties’ briefs and move them to our per curiam docket. They are usually assigned to an earlier submitted-on-brief docket to resolve these straightforward cases. Opinions in these cases are typically filed within several weeks of the submitted-on-brief date. Because these opinions are filed per curiam, no individual judge receives “credit” for authoring the opinion.

Some decisions take priority over others by Rule. As explained above, child access cases must be resolved within 60 days of argument or submission on brief. Additionally, state appeals concerning the suppression of evidence must be heard and decided within 120 days of the court’s receipt of the circuit court record. We have had few state appeals to consider, but the number of child access appeals has continued to grow since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, this court considered 80 child access appeals. That number grew to 195 in 2025. Because these types of appeals must be decided within a short time frame, each judge must prioritize these appeals each month.

In addition to their monthly assignments, our judges participate on panels that consider substantive motions, applications for leave to appeal, and the cases initially designated for per curiam decision. There has been a drastic increase in the number of motions filed over the years. In 2025, we estimate that we received more than 6,300 motions. While many of the motions are routine requests for extensions of time or corrections to the record, we receive many substantive motions that must be decided by a panel of this court.

The editorial suggested that it is taking longer to get scheduled for oral argument than it used to. Several years ago, we revised the scheduling process. Previously, cases were assigned an argument session month in the initial briefing order. Under that system, however, numerous cases would ultimately drop out (e.g., for failure to file a brief) of the argument slots. Those “drop out” cases, coupled with scheduling conflicts and requests for postponement, made it very difficult to maintain consistent docket numbers each month.

The current scheduling system strives to address these issues and attempts to ensure complete dockets by scheduling cases after both sides have filed their briefs and any date conflicts are resolved. The court sets in for argument only those cases that are briefed and ready for argument. Expedited cases, however, are scheduled within the applicable time constraints. This means that these cases are scheduled before briefing is concluded, and often even before an appellant’s brief is due. Even so, we are looking for ways to set more cases in for argument sooner.

We hope these comments give the public greater insight into the workings of the court. All of us at the court endeavor to provide timely and thoroughly considered written decisions in every appeal. The Appellate Court of Maryland will continue to be responsive to the litigants and the public as we strive to provide fair, efficient, and effective justice for all.

Gregory Wells
Chief Judge
Appellate Court of Maryland