Kathleen McClernan-Walz

President
St. Mary’s County Bar Association

Kathleen McClernan-Walz started her career as a public defender in St. Mary’s County. It was there that she defended an 18-year-old man accused of assaulting his stepfather in a case that she considers her most significant professional accomplishment. The defendant faced mental health issues and an intellectual disability and McClernan-Walz advocated for him to be deemed incompetent to stand trial and then be placed in a group home

“It was a quite win,” McClernan-Walz said. “It was not a fancy case that made the headlines, but it was one of my greatest professional accomplishments to date.”

McClernan-Walz volunteers as a mock trial coach at Leonardtown High School. Through the St. Mary’s County Bar Association, she helps fundraise for a college scholarship for a local high school student and participates in Law Day. She hold a bachelor’s degree from University of Arizona and a law degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law.