Attorneys

Biography

The Honorable Gary E. Bair (retired Associate Judge, Circuit Court for Montgomery County, 2012-20) brings decades of trial and appellate experience to the representation of clients in civil and criminal matters. As a trial court judge, Judge Bair presided over criminal, civil, family, and juvenile trials. He provided early leadership to develop and implement the Mental Health Court Program, over which he then co-presided for four years. In 2017, he received the Wayne Fenton Memorial Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness for the creation and implementation of the Mental Health Court in Montgomery County, Maryland.

During his tenure as an Associate Judge, he was specially appointed to the Appellate Court of Maryland on several occasions, where he sat as a member of a three-judge panel of that court. He authored several appellate court opinions, including reported opinions.

Before becoming a judge, Judge Bair served as the Solicitor General for the State of Maryland for criminal cases at the Attorney General's Office from 2002 to 2004, where he represented the State in the United States Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Maryland. He also served as Chief of the Criminal Appeals Division (1987-2002), where he focused on criminal appeals. He  became a distinguished federal habeas corpus litigator in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. While Chief of the Criminal Appeals Division, Judge Bair managed and supervised a team of fifteen Assistant Attorneys General. From 1984 to 1987, Judge Bair was Chief of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Attorney's General Office, where he prosecuted white collar Medicaid provider fraud. He litigated and handled major cases, and made policy decisions in all investigations.

Judge Bair has argued more than 150 cases before Maryland's appellate courts and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He is a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar and has argued cases before the Supreme Court, including Maryland v. Pringle, 540 U.S. 366 (2003), a landmark Fourth Amendment case that he won nine to zero.

Lawyers and law firms regularly engage Judge Bair for advice in presenting written and oral arguments in high-stakes appeals before the Maryland appellate courts. Given his extensive knowledge and background, Judge Bair also has served as an expert witness on issues involving the rules of professional responsibility and professional competence and standards of care.

A recognized leader in the legal community, Judge Bair received the prestigious Heeney Award from the Maryland State Bar Association for Exemplifying the Highest Professional Standards and Achievement During his Distinguished Career. He served the Chair Maryland State Bar Association's Section of Criminal Law and Practice and the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. He was also President of the Montgomery County Inn of Court from 2016 to 2017.

In addition to his successful litigation career, Judge Bair served as an adjunct professor for more than 25 years at American University's Washington College of Law. He received that law school's Adjunct Teaching Award in 2016.

Recognition

American University, Washington College of Law, Adjunct Teaching Award, 2016

National Alliance on Mental Illness, Wayne Fenton Memorial Award for the creation and implementation of Mental Health Court in Montgomery County, Maryland, 2017

Maryland State Bar Association, Robert C. Heeney Award, 2014

Montgomery County Bar Foundation, Bar Leaders, Certificate of Recognition, 2013

Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rated, 2011

Service

Member, State of Maryland Appellate Nominating Commission, 2023-present

Member, Editorial Advisory Board, The Daily Record, 2021-present

State Advisory Board for the Department of Juvenile Services, Member 2014 - 2020

American Inns of Courts, Montgomery County Chapter, President 2016-2017

MSBA Standing Committee on Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions, Member 1999-2010

Appointed by the Court of Appeals as Member, Character Committee, State Board of Law Examiners, 2004-2011

Appointed by Governor William Donald Schaefer in 1992 as Chair of the seven-member Governor's Commission on the Death Penalty to study the death penalty in Maryland.

Appointed by the General Assembly in 1991, as Member, Committee to Revise Article 27 of the Maryland Code, which was formed by the legislature to study the criminal code of Maryland and recommend revisions to various parts of it.

American University Washington College of Law, Adjunct Professor 1981 - 2017

University of Baltimore School of Law, Adjunct Professor 1998 - 2006

Memberships

Maryland State Bar Foundation, Member

The Cole-Davidson American Inn of Court, Barrister

Maryland State Bar Foundation, Fellow

Maryland State Bar Association

Events

Maryland State Bar Association, Presenter, various programs on criminal and appellate litigation issues, over past 30 years

Judicial College of Maryland. The Judicial College of Maryland coordinates and administers continuing judicial education programs required of all state judges.

October 16, 2019: "Trial Court Opinion Writing"

April 7, 2016: "Evidence in Criminal Cases"

September 18, 2015: "Criminal Impact Cases"

April 9, 2015: "Criminal Impact Cases"

May 1, 2014: "Fourth Amendment Issues and Applications"

March 25, 2011: "Search and Seizure"

March 16, 2011: "Criminal Post Sentencing Matters"

April 20, 2010: "Confessions and Identifications"

September 23, 2009: "Fifth and Sixth Amendment Issues"

March 14, 2008: "Search and Seizure"

March 12, 2008: "Post Conviction"

September 27, 2007: "Confessions and Identifications"

October 13, 2006: "Fifth and Sixth Amendment Issues"

April 15, 2005: "Search and Seizure"

April 10, 2003: "Fifth and Sixth Amendment Issues"

March 6, 1992: "Managing the Child Abuse Trial"

Publications

Author, "Reflections upon Retirement from the Bench," Newsletter, The Bar Association of Montgomery County, MD, November 2020.

Author, "Ten Tips for the Appellate Practitioner," The Barrister, Howard County Bar Association Newsletter, February 2005; reprinted in The Law Clerk, the monthly publication of the MSBA Solo and Small Firm Practice Section, March 2005.

Chapter Author, State appellate practice, Appellate Practice for the Maryland Lawyer, (2d ed.), Sandler & Levy, 2001

Author, "Delays in the Execution of Death Sentences" The Maryland Bar Journal, November/December 1995.

Author, Annual cumulative supplement to Chester J. Antieau, Federal Civil Rights Acts–Civil Practice (2d ed.), Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company, Rochester, New York, 1980, published annually December 1981-1993.

Co-Author, Note, The Applicability of Federal Common Law to Aviation Tort Litigation, 63 Geo. L.J. 1083, 1975.

Author, Circuits Note: 1974-1975 Term, Prisoners' Rights, 64 Geo. L.J. 509, 1975.