(This editorial borrows heavily from the remarks of Baltimore City Circuit Judge Julie R. Rubin who, on behalf of the Women’s Bar Association, presented the first Etta Maddox Award to Court of Appeals Judge Lynne A. Battaglia at its annual ...

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When Belva Lockwood was denied admission to the Carroll County bar in 1881, a county judge wrote in his decision that women were equipped “as little for the judicial conflicts of the court-room, as for the physical conflicts of the battlefield.” Fast forward 134 years: Lockwood’s history, along with the tales of generations of other women attorneys in Maryland, make up a newly released book called Finding Justice. The project was sponsored by the Maryland Women’s Bar Association Foundation and spearheaded by Court of Appeals Judge Lynne A. Battaglia, who named Lockwood’s story as one of the highlights of the work.

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Social media was on trial in an opinion issued last week by Maryland’s highest court, and the "reasonable juror" won. At issue was how trial judges deal with authenticating evidence from a site like Facebook or Twitter. The Court of Appeals’ verdict: judges must simply determine that such a juror could find proof that the evidence is what the plaintiff or defendant claims it to be. In its opinion released Thursday, which consolidated three criminal cases, the court said proof of the authenticity of social networking pages or messages can be direct or circumstantial, as long as it lives up to the “reasonable juror” standard.

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Attorney G. Jacob Geesing should be reprimanded rather than suspended for authorizing employees to sign and notarize his name on 2,500 foreclosure-related affidavits, because he had thoroughly reviewed the documents beforehand and could vouch for their accuracy, Geesing’s lawyer told Maryland’s top court Thursday.

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Another year has passed, and convicted criminals Kevin C. Alston, Tony Lamont Haile and Jaron Tyree Grade are still waiting for word from Maryland’s top court.

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A Baltimore detective lacked legal justification to use a stun gun on a fleeing man he suspected was armed, a divided Court of Appeals has held.

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Denese Dominguez was disbarred by the Court of Appeals in May.

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Maryland’s top court appears poised to extend to criminal defendants the right to be represented by counsel at initial bail hearings. However, during oral arguments on the issue Tuesday, the Court of Appeals said little to resolve the Office of ...

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ANNAPOLIS – The Baltimore City Paper abused its privilege to report fairly and accurately on a double murder trial when it published articles implicating a former nightclub owner in the slayings — though he was never charged in the crime, ...

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The Court of Appeals has disbarred a Montgomery County lawyer who deposited two clients’ checks in his personal bank account and did not notify them when he left his Germantown practice. Joel Desingco Lara took advance fees totaling $1,100 from ...

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