3 more candidates for the Maryland 2nd Circuit Court recommended to Governor

June 9, 2011

Maryland: Three of the five applicants to the 2nd Circuit Court judgeship in Cecil County, Maryland have advanced to the next level. After interviewing the applicants, the Trial Courts Judicial Nominating Commission for District 13 has recommended Jason L. Allison, Thomas L. Klenk and Kevin B. Urick to Governor Martin O'Malley for appointment. The judicial vacancy was created by retired Judge O. Robert Lidums in October of 2010. Jane Cairns Murray and Ellis Rollins were already on the "short list" for the judicial vacancy, having been approved for another 2nd Circuit Court vacancy a year ago, but not appointed. The Governor is likely, but not required, to choose from these five nominees.

The candidates:

• Jason L. Allison has worked as a private practice lawyer in Elkton, MD since his graduation from law school in 2004. He specializes in civil cases, including business and municipal law. He was a law clerk of former Judge O. Robert Lidums from 2002 to 2004.

• Thomas L. Klenk has practiced law since 1980. Since 1984, he has been an assistant public defender for Cecil County.

• Kevin B. Urick has worked as a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Norman Ramsey (1987-1988), as a prosecutor in the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office (1988-2002), at a Baltimore law firm (2002-2004) and as a prosecutor for the Cecil County State's Attorney's Office (2004 - present). He also operates a private civil law practice.

• Jane Cairns Murray has presided over family law proceedings since August of 2006 as Cecil County's first full-time domestic relations master. A lawyer for 24 years, she has also operated own law firm and was a supervisor of the Cecil County Public Defender's Office from 1990 to 2004.

• Ellis Rollins spent most of his 30 years as a lawyer with a private law office. He was elected the Cecil County State's Attorney in fall of 2010.

References

This article was written by Matt Latourelle, the Project Director for the State Courts Project on Judgepedia. He can be reached at matt@judgepedia.org.