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Barnes joins Rollins Smalkin
Tara A. Barnes has joined Rollins, Smalkin, Richards & Mackie LLC as an associate. Her practice includes civil litigation, with a focus on negligence, insurance defense, workers’ compensation and personal injury cases. Barnes graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law. Prior to joining the firm, she served as an assistant state’s attorney in […]
Copping an attitude
It was 1:30 p.m. on a Tuesday when the judge took the bench for the incarcerable traffic docket. The doors had opened a half-hour earlier to allow the witnesses to check in. These cases are officer-driven; generally, the officer makes a traffic stop for a traffic infraction which leads to the discovery of more serious […]
Everyone’s got baggage
“You gotta grow a thick skin pretty fast in this line a work,” he said. I turned around and there stood a police officer leaning on the door to the liaison’s office where my showdown with seersucker ensued. He stood 5’ 11″, had white hair and looked like a 55 year-old version of Guile from […]
Confronting your opponent
I managed to survive my first criminal docket, but only by a hair. The good news was we finished the docket by noon. The bad news was I had to drop half of the cases — and I lost all five of my trials. Although my morning was done, my day wasn’t. Traffic dockets scheduled […]
Move that docket!
I was only a week into training as an assistant state’s attorney and I was beginning to doubt my ability to perform. My drill sergeant of a trainer took a “sink or swim” approach to teaching, and I was floundering against the undercurrent of case screening, continuance requests, inquires about court dates, office meetings and […]
Training day
Our state’s attorney swore us in as his newest assistant state’s attorneys, quoting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson: A prosecutor has more control over life, liberty and reputation than any other person in America. Their discretion is tremendous … he can have no better asset than have his profession recognize that his attitude towards […]
