2023 Judicial Education Course Catalog

NEW TRIAL JUDGE ORIENTATION “Off to a Good Start” Members of Maryland’s current Judiciary have had the benefit of partaking in an extensive orientation as they assume their full duties and exercise their constitutional powers on the bench. That orientation includes a New Trial Judge Orientation, euphemistically and affectionately known as “Baby Judge’s School.” Its purpose is to assure that every new member of the bench is “off to a good start.” Prior to 1985, there was no formal orientation or training for newly minted Maryland trial judges. In 1985, then Chief Judge Robert M. Murphy directed that the Judicial Institute conduct a New Trial Judge Orientation. The curriculum included general topics on criminal and civil law and procedure, evidence, administrative review, and had a heavy sprinkling of English common law and judicial philosophy. That first residency training was held at the Adult Education Center at the University of Maryland at College Park. The following year, the New Trial Judge Orientation was held in Frederick, at the Holiday Inn. The late Judge Robert J. Gerstung, District Court in Baltimore City, was the original “dean” of Baby Judge’s School. Though he was just a “baby judge” in 1985’s first class, then Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Joseph F. Murphy, Jr. was apparently its star pupil. By 1987, New Trial Judge Orientation had its first co-dean, Judge Joseph F. Murphy, Jr. Judges Gerstung and Murphy became the quintessential teachers, mentors, backstops, and confidants for the newest cadre of Maryland’s trial judges. By 1993, the New Trial Judge Orientation was held at a Baltimore hotel, which included modern conference rooms and better accommodations. The program was evolving. Judge Gerstung and Judge Murphy had taken the New Trial Judge Orientation a long way from the Adult Training Center in College Park. Judge Gerstung’s sudden passing in 1994 left Judge Murphy as the sole dean in charge. Judge Murphy needed someone who could fill Judge Gerstung’s shoes and join him in managing this growing program. He selected a dynamic District Court judge whose background included adult education and was more representative of the ever-changing diversity of the Maryland Judiciary. Judge Murphy asked Judge Patrice E. Lewis, District Court of Maryland in Prince George’s County, to join him as co-dean of the New Trial Judge Orientation. In 1994, Judge Murphy was appointed to the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland. As a result, Judge Martin P. Welch, Circuit Court for Baltimore City, was selected to join Judge Lewis and Judge Murphy to provide the circuit court perspective for the bench’s newest judges. From 1994 until 2015, New Trial Judge Orientation continued annually under the leadership of judges Murphy, Lewis, and Welch. The team transformed the orientation and shifted the paradigm to include more substantive aspects of law and more practical bench materials all the while expanding diversity of the faculty. New judges were offered health screenings and heard from cardiologists about their health and stress related to the occupation. During this time, attention was given to the different learning styles of adults, and more attention paid to the pedagogy of teaching. Then Chief Judge Robert M. Bell introduced the new trial judges to visiting the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, or the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Black History in Baltimore City to broaden their perspectives holistically. As time marches on, so does New Trial Judge Orientation; it has continued to expand and evolve – now a six-day residency – to include a two-day refresher course that takes place the following spring. In 2016, Judge Marcus Z. Shar, Circuit Court for Baltimore City, and Judge Susan H. Hazlett, District Court in Harford County, took the reins of the New Trial Judge Orientation as co-chairs and continued to expand and improve upon the curriculum under their able leadership. Now, Judge Hazlett continues to lend her expertise and leadership, and Judge J. Michael Wachs, Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, has taken up the challenge to co-coordinate the New Trial Judge Orientation upon the retirement of Judge Shar. Now, thirty-seven years later, what started out as a fledgling program to offer baby minted judges training has matured to ensure every new member of the Maryland bench has gotten “off to a good start”! -The Honorable Joseph F. Murphy, Jr.

Special thanks for Judge Martin Welch, Judge Patrice Lewis, and Judge Joseph Murphy for their time and efforts in writing this history of NTJO.

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