ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Wes Moore this week announced judicial appointments to the Howard County Circuit Court and to the Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Magistrate Lara Weathersbee will serve as judge on the Howard County Circuit Court. Patricia DeMaio, Marc DeSimone, and James Rhodes will serve as judges on the Baltimore County Circuit Court.

“Ensuring equal justice under law is more than an aspiration — it’s an obligation. Today, I’m proud to appoint four judges who understand that fundamental truth,” said Governor Moore. “I thank these distinguished officers of the court for raising their hands to serve.”

Lara Weathersbee has been an attorney for 28 years and has served as a Magistrate for the past ten years in the Howard County Circuit Court. In addition to a full caseload, she sits in delinquency court where she works with children and families and is also certified as a trained mediator with a certification in the practice of collaborative divorce.

After graduating from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, Magistrate Weathersbee clerked for the Honorable Martin Wolff in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. She then served as a prosecutor in the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office, where she was Chief of the Juvenile Court Division. Following her service in the State’s Attorney’s Office, she joined a private practice and then worked as a solo practitioner for three years before being appointed as a Magistrate in 2012.

Patricia DeMaio is an Administrative Law Judge in the Office of Administrative Hearings. ALJ DeMaio has conducted hearings for more than 30 State agencies involving more than 500 case types. Prior to becoming an ALJ, DeMaio spent nine years as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Baltimore City and four years as an insurance defense attorney on legal issues affecting the investigation of workers’ compensation claims.

After graduating from the Temple University Beasley School of Law, DeMaio clerked for the Honorable Renee Cardell Hughes in the Court of Common Pleas for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. After her clerkship, she worked for four years as an Assistant District Attorney in the Philadelphia’s District Attorney’s Office.

Marc DeSimone has served as an Assistant Public Defender in the Appellate Division of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender for 17 years, handling several hundred appeals and presenting more than 50 oral arguments before the Maryland appellate courts. His past advocacy includes litigation on both the trial and appellate level for the final state constitutional challenge to the death penalty in Maryland. He has also served as an adjunct professor and lecturer of law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law since 2007.

DeSimone graduated from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Vanessa Ruiz, associate judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Before joining the Office of the Public Defender, he was an associate with the Baltimore-based law firm of Lord & Whip, P.A., where his practice concentrated in products liability defense and admiralty and maritime law.

James Rhodes has been a solo practitioner for the past 26 years focusing on criminal defense, civil litigation and personal injury cases, with experienced practice in family law and estates and trusts. Before starting his own practice he worked as an associate at the Law Office of J. Owen Bracken and served as a law clerk at Liberty Mutual House Counsel in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Rhodes mentors younger attorneys and is a regular volunteer in his community, often speaking at public and charter schools, volunteering as a math tutor to children and engaged in pro bono work for local churches. He is a graduate of Western New England University School of Law.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels