Magistrate

About the role

A full-time Magistrate Position with the Circuit Court for Howard County is available. Duties include Family Law and Juvenile Law matters authorized pursuant to Maryland Rules 9-208 and 11-111. The successful candidate will have extensive family law experience, including child support administration case knowledge, understanding of juvenile proceedings involving children in need of assistance and delinquency matters.

Essential Functions

• Conduct custody, contempt, modification, pendente lite, support and other family law hearings pursuant to Maryland Rule 9-208.
• Conduct settlement conferences. Conduct shelter/ detention hearings, settlement/pre-trial conferences; conduct regular review hearings.
• Provide timely written and oral findings and recommendations.
• Confer and collaborate with court administration, the family law coordinator, and the Administrative Judge, as well as the staff of the Circuit Court.

Education

• Juris Doctorate and a member of the Maryland Bar in good standing.

Experience

• Minimum of Five (5) years of experience practicing law in Maryland.
• Preferred: Minimum of 10 years of experience in the practice of family law in Maryland.

Skills/Abilities

• Ability to work the full-time standard work schedule of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Monday through Friday) with flexibility to accommodate early or late meetings.
• Maintain a regular, punctual, and reliable level of attendance.
• Ability to work independently and have a high level of interpersonal skills to handle sensitive and confidential situations.
• Ability to maintain a professional demeanor, communicate effectively orally and in writing, and to exercise a high degree of judgment, tact, diplomacy, and competence in dealing with judges, attorneys, court personnel, self-represented litigants, limited-English speakers, and a culturally diverse public.
• Ability to make timely decisions based on the law, rules, experience, good judgment, and established policies and procedures.
• Ability to write effectively, clearly, with attention to detail when composing, typing and proofing materials, while providing decisions supported by the law, Rules, Code, and fundamentals of the English language.
• Proficiency in setting priorities while simultaneously processing multiple duties and responsibilities.
• Ability to develop and maintain collaborative and professional working relationships with court personnel, the bar, local stakeholders, and the public.
• Retain a high standard of ethics to uphold the law and remain impartial, neutral and free from bias at all times.

At Will Employment

Selection of a candidate for the Magistrate position is considered by the Circuit Court Bench, and upon appointment, serves under the direct oversight of the Administrative Judge. Circuit Court employees are at-will employees and serve at the discretion of the Administrative Judge. This means that either an employee, or the Court, may terminate the employee relationship at any time, with or without cause. There are no contractual relationships between the Circuit Court and an employee. Letters, benefit or policy statements, performance evaluation, handbooks, or other employee communications should not be interpreted as a contractual relationship. The at-will relationship remains in full force and effect notwithstanding any statements to the contrary made by court personnel or set forth in any documents.