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.