2023 Judicial Conference Program

HONORABLE MICHAEL W. REED APPELLATE COURT OF MARYLAND 361 ROWE BOULEVARD | ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND 21401

MICHAEL W. REED is a Judge of the Appellate Court of Maryland, 6th Appellate Circuit (Baltimore City Representative). Previously, he had served as an Associate Judge on the Circuit Court for Baltimore City since October 20, 2011. He is the Chair and a Commissioner of the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission since 2017. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he attended St. John’s College High School where he became an officer in the cadet corp. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he graduated with honors in Political Science. He graduated from The National Law Center at the George Washington University in 1985 and began his career on Capitol Hill. In 1986, he became legislative counsel to the Maryland Senate Economic and Environmental Affairs Committee and House Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse. He was hired by the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office in 1988, led by Stuart O. Simms, where he prosecuted cases as a Member of the Homicide Division and Sex Offense Task Force. In 1999, he began his career in private practice as an associate at the Law Office of Peter G. Angelos, where he litigated product liability, banking and criminal cases. In 2007, he was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General serving in the Health Occupations Prosecution and Litigation Division and served as Senior Counsel. He served as the President of the Bar Association for Baltimore City in 2014-2015 and continues to serve on its Executive Council. He has been elected as a member of the Board of Governors of the Maryland State Bar Association. Judge Reed is a Fellow of the Baltimore Bar Foundation, Inc. He served as the President of the Foundation in 2011-2012. He has also served, for several terms, and continues to serve as a trustee for the Bar Association Insurance Trust. Active in the community, Judge Reed coached youth lacrosse for many years. The Judge is a member of his church choir and an elder in his church. Judge Reed is a delegate to the American Bar Association, House of Delegates for the Bar Association of Baltimore City. He is married and the father of two children. He is keenly interested in genealogy and American Civil War history.

JAMES WYDA, ESQ. OFFICE OF FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER TOWER II, SUITE 1100 | 100 SOUTH CHARLES ST. | BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21201

JAMES WYDA was appointed as the Federal Public Defender for the District of Maryland in November 1998. Mr. Wyda graduated from Yale Law School and Trinity College. He was law clerk for the Honorable Frank A. Kaufman, United States District Judge for the District of Maryland. From1994 to 1998, Mr. Wyda was an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. From1990 to 1994, he was an Assistant Public Defender for the Office of the Public Defender for the State of Maryland, where he was a member of that Office’s Capital Defense and Appellate Divisions. Mr. Wyda has defended capital cases in the state and federal courts. Mr. Wyda is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland Law School. He has lectured at numerous law schools and training programs for criminal practitioners throughout the country, including numerous capital defense trainings. Mr. Wyda is engaged in numerous community activities, including coaching youth sports and volunteering at the Park School in Baltimore, where he is ex-officio President of the Board of Trustees and coach of the state champion mock trial team.

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