2025 Judicial Conference Program

Burned Out: How Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma Are Impacting You, Your Courtroom, and Your Colleagues HONORABLE PAMILA J. BROWN (SR.) DISTRICT COURT IN HOWARD COUNTY 451 COURTHOUSE DRIVE | ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND 21043

PAMILA J. BROWN served as an Associate Judge in the Tenth Judicial District for the District Court of Maryland in Howard and Carroll County, from May 7,2002, until taking Senior status on July 1,2025. She served as Administrative Judge from July 1,2017 to May 12,2024. Judge Brown received her J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law, class of 1979 after earning a B.S. in Political Science from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1976. Prior to her appointment to the bench Judge Brown served as an Assistant Attorney General for fifteen years where she held positions of Principal Counsel to the Department of General Services, Deputy General to the State Highway Administration and Deputy Counsel to the State Treasurer leading the Tort Litigation Unit. Ms. Brown has also served as an Assistant City Solicitor in the Labor and Education Division of Baltimore City Law Department and as the Director of the Inmate Legal Services at the Baltimore City Jail. She is a frequent lecturer both nationally and internationally on ethics, tort liability, litigation techniques and trial advocacy, domestic violence, and human trafficking as well as, implicit bias, diversity and inclusion and civics education. She has served as an Adjunct Professor at both the University of Baltimore Law School and on the faculty of the National Judicial College, the Southeastern National Institute of Trial Advocacy, (NITA) and the Maryland Judicial College. Judge Brown has been deeply involved in the community and her civic activities are extensive. She has served on the Board of the Maryland Women’s Bar Association, the Women’s Law Center, the Maryland Lupus Foundation, the Maryland Bar Foundation, the Monumental City Bar Association, the Monumental Bar Foundation, the Waring Mitchell Law Society and the Maryland Legal Aid Equal Justice Council as well served President of the Metropolitan YWCA of Greater Baltimore. Judge Brown is very active and has held leadership positions in the American Bar Association. She is the former Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Government Lawyers Division, the Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence, the Standing Committee on Bar Services and the Gavel Awards and is a former member of the ABA Board of Governors. She has served as a member of the ABA Task Force on Human Trafficking. Among her many professional accomplishments she is first African American women to serve as President of the Maryland State Bar Association as well as the Bar Association of Baltimore City and the Howard County Bar. Judge Brown’s has been recognized by numerous organizations for her hard work and community involvement. Her honors include being named as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women, Alumnus of the Year at the University of Baltimore Law School, the Leadership in the Law Award from “The Daily Record”, the Torch Bearer Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Howard County Women’s Bar Connie Sapp Award, the Pro Bono Champion Award and the Judiciary Pro Bono Award from the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, the Brent- Mitchell Award from the Baltimore City Bar Association, the Frederick Douglass Award from the NAACP and the Maryland Bar Foundation, and the Advancement of Public Understanding of the Law Award. In addition, Judge Brown has also been recognized nationally and is the recipient of the American Bar Association Nelson Award from the ABA Government Lawyers Division, the Difference Maker Award from the ABA General Practice Division, and most recently the prestigious Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, and the ABA Judicial Divisions, Specialized Trial Court, Franklin N. Flaschner Award for exemplary character, leadership, and competence in performing judicial duties. She also is the recipient of the “Distinguished Citizen Award” from Macalester College and the Thomas Reuters “Lifetime, Liberty Achievement Award”.

2025 JUDICIAL CONFERENCE

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