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Headshot photo of Steven M. Klepper

Steven M. Klepper

Principal

  • Tel: 410-347-7405
  • Fax: 410-361-8226

Steve Klepper is a leader of Maryland's appellate bar and a longtime insurance coverage litigator. Through his written and oral advocacy, Steve builds human connections to make his clients heard and to persuade judges. The Maryland State Bar Association Section of Litigation named him 2024 Litigator of the Year.

Steve's appellate practice includes civil, criminal, and family appeals of every kind, including disability rights, commercial disputes, professional liability, employment law, real estate development, administrative law, land use, white-collar crimes, and high-net-worth divorces. He works collaboratively with trial counsel on all phases of civil and criminal appeals, including briefing, emergency motions, oral argument, certiorari practice, and trial preservation. Steve also provides "off brief" consulting to law firms with appeals pending in the Maryland appellate courts. He co-edits Maryland's leading appellate practice treatise and founded the Maryland Appellate Blog.

Steve has represented property and casualty insurers for over two decades, including advice and litigation as to a wide range of first-party and third-party coverages. Because many judges, like most lawyers, are unfamiliar with insurance, Steve seeks to educate, not just persuade, when briefing insurance coverage disputes. He has published many articles and book chapters on insurance coverage litigation.

Steve joined Kramon & Graham in 2001 following a summer associate clerkship in 2000.

Service

Alumnae and Alumni of Goucher College, former President

Fourth Circuit Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Appellate Panel Committee, District of Maryland Representative

The GreenMount School, former Trustee

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Criminal Justice Act Appellate Panel, Member

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Criminal Justice Act Appellate Panel, Member

University of Virginia School of Law, Law School Foundation, Baltimore Regional Manager

Women's Law Center of Maryland, Board of Directors

Commended by peers for his insurance coverage work and appellate advocacy, according to Chambers USA sources, Steve is 'super smart and well respected.' He 'knows the Maryland appellate courts extremely well.' 'He is a terrific writer.'

Recognized in Chambers USA, Appellate, Maryland since 2023; Insurance, Maryland, since 2018

Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, since 2019

Recipient, Maryland Leadership in Law Award, The Daily Record, 2019

AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Recipient of DV LEAP, Tip the Scales of Justice Award, 2018

  • District of Columbia
  • Maryland
  • Supreme Court of the United States
  • United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
  • United States District Court for the District of Columbia
  • United States District Court for the District of Maryland
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

American Bar Association, Member; Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, former Editor

Cole-Davidson Appellate Inn of Court, President-Elect and co-founder

DRI, Appellate Advocacy Committee, Member; Online Community, Co-Chair

Federal Bar Association, Member; Government Relations Liaison

Insurance Risk Management Institute, former Editor, CGL Reporter

Maryland Bar Foundation, Fellow

Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys' Association, Member; Amicus Committee

Maryland State Bar Association, Member; Section Council, Section of Litigation, Former Member; Appellate Litigation Committee Co-Chair; Maryland Appellate Blog, Editor in Chief; Administrative Law Section, Member

Wednesday Law Club, Member

Presenter, "You've Filed an Appeal – Now What??? A behind-the-scenes view from Chief Judge Wells, ADR Court Staff, and an experience appellate practitioner," Maryland State Bar Association Legal Summit & Annual Meeting, 2023

Presenter, "Critical Appellate Rule Changes and Writing Techniques That Every Trial Lawyer Should Know," Maryland Association for Justice, 2023

Presenter, "What D.C. Lawyers Should Know About Maryland Appeals," D.C. Bar Association, 2022

Presenter, "Appellate Practice Skills Program," at the St. Mary's County Bar Association, Maryland State Bar Association, 2022

Moderator, "Appellate Practice Tips from the Bench and Bar," Maryland State Bar Association Litigation Section and Young Lawyers Section, 2018

Moderator, "United States Supreme Court Term in Review," Maryland State Bar Association Annual Meeting, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

Moderator, "Maryland Impact Decisions," Maryland State Bar Association, 2017

Presenter, "Preserving the Appellate Record at the Trial Court," Maryland Legal Aid Appellate Advocacy Training, 2017

Presenter, "The Personal Divide Between Jefferson and Marshall," Wednesday Law Club, 2017

Presenter, "Mid-Construction Losses: The Intersection of Liability and Builder's Risk Coverage," 2016

Presenter, "Growing Your Appellate Practice, Both Within and Without," DRI Appellate Advocacy Program, 2016

Co-presenter, "The Renewed Debate Over Unpublished Appellate Opinions," Federal Bar Association Annual Meeting, 2015

Presenter, "Fourth Circuit Impact Decisions," Maryland State Bar Association Section of Litigation and Maryland Chapter of Federal Bar Association, 2014

Panelist, Supreme Court panels, Goucher College, 2012, 2013, 2014

Author, "Adnan Syed's Freedom Is at Risk Due to Hearing's Short Notice," Bloomberg Law, March 29, 2023

Co-editor, "Appellate Practice for the Maryland Lawyer" (5th ed.), Maryland State Bar Association, 2018

Author, "Larry Hogan Shows How Judicial Appointments Are Done," Editorial, Washington Post, 2022

Chapter Author, "Choice of Law for Coverage Disputes," General Liability Insurance Coverage: Key Issues in Every State (4th ed.), Maniloff & Stempel, Wolters Kluwer N.V., 2018

Author, "Mid-Construction Losses: The Intersection of Liability and Builder's Risk Coverage," The Brief, Volume 46 Number 2, American Bar Association, 2017

Author, "Uncertainty for Corporate America Under the Post-Scalia Supreme Court," In-House Defense Quarterly, DRI, Summer 2016

Author, "The Changing Certiorari Dynamic at the Supreme Court," Certworthy, Volume 17 Issue 1, DRI, 2016

Author, "Appellate Counsel: When It Makes Sense," Focus, Association of Corporate Counsel - Baltimore Chapter, 3Q, 2015

Author, "The Love Song of J. Anthony Kennedy," 19 Green Bag 2d 101, 2015

Chapter Author, "Provisions Concerning Coverage Disputes," The Reference Handbook on the Comprehensive General Liability Insurance Policy (2d ed.), Rutkin & Tugander, 2014

Author, "Maryland's Contractual Conception of Insurance: The Improvident Grant of Certiorari in PICD v. State Farm," University of Maryland Law Review, Endnotes 1, 2014

Author, "Whose Conception of Insurance?," University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 162: Iss. 1, Article 13, University of Pennsylvania, 2013

Author, "The Practical Implications of Recusal of Supreme Court Justices: A Response to Professor Swisher," University of Maryland Law Review, Endnotes 1, Rev. Endnotes 13, University of Maryland, 2013

Author, "Confirming Consensus Nominees Quickly," The Federal Lawyer, 2012

Author, "The Elite Federal Bar in Baltimore, 1818 - 1934," The Federal Lawyer, 2011

Author, "Choice of Law for CGL Insurance Policies: Toward a Uniform Rule," The Brief,  American Bar Association, 2009

An avid writer, Steven authored “Hell, Incorporated,” a play produced as part of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival.

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