The Maryland State Bar Association represents over 40,000 attorneys and is the state’s leading voice for the legal profession. The MSBA frequently engages in public advocacy efforts to protect and further the interests of the legal profession, including filing amicus curiae briefs and meeting with executive branch officials.

The MSBA  also actively shapes practice-related legislation and public policy in Annapolis by testifying before state legislative committees. As Maryland’s legislative session opens this week, the MSBA is seeking even greater member participation in the association’s public advocacy efforts. The aim is to build on the MSBA’s string of public advocacy successes, which most recently included defeating proposed taxation on legal services and obtaining COVID-19 vaccine priority for Maryland’s lawyers.

You can view pending legislation via the Maryland General Assembly website. It is anticipated that bills pertaining to tenant protections, SLAPP lawsuits, and prohibited indemnity and defense liability agreements will be a focal point of the 2022 legislative session with regard to civil law, while juvenile justice, expungement, the repeal of the spousal defense and ghost gun legislation are at the forefront of criminal law legislation. Two pieces of criminal legislation, the Judicial Transparency Act (SB5 from the 2021 Special Session) and the Violent Firearms Offenders Act (SB6 from the 2021 Special Session), have not yet been introduced as bills this year but most likely will be soon. 

The MSBA invites its members to draw on their vast range of expertise and provide input on legislation pending in the 2022 legislative session.  You can email us at advocacy@msba.org to provide insight on pending legislation and visit our Advocacy web page to see what bills we are tracking.