New Maryland Bar Counsel Nominated

The Capitol Gazette (Annapolis) reports

Annapolis City Attorney D. Michael Lyles has been nominated to serve as the Maryland’s top attorney charged with safeguarding the ethical practice of law in the state. If confirmed by the Supreme Court of Maryland, he would serve as the sixth bar counsel for Maryland’s Attorney Grievance Commission.

In June, the commission announced Lyles was one of two candidates for the powerful job, which will put him in charge of prosecuting Maryland attorneys accused of ethical breaches. He beat out John J. Kuchno, a 35-year law veteran currently serving as deputy chief of litigation in the Maryland Attorney General’s office. Kuchno also briefly served as Howard County Circuit Court judge, a position he was appointed to by former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, but lost in the 2020 election, despite being endorsed by The Washington Post. Kuchno also had 25 years of experience serving as a member of the Attorney Grievance Commission’s peer review committee.

Lyles, who received his law degree from Catholic University, has served as the executive director of the Prince George’s County Human Relations Commission for 7 years, and went into private practice after losing a race for Prince George’s County state’s attorney in 2018. He was nominated to serve as Annapolis city attorney in 2019 by Mayor Gavin Buckley, a Democrat.

In the past year or so, however, Lyles has lost a series of cases with negative ramifications for the City of Annapolis. In April 2020, a judge overturned a decision by the city’s Board of Appeals that would have allowed the redevelopment of Eastport Shopping Center. The judge found that Annapolis had erred by asking the police chief to sign off on special exceptions to the city’s adequate public facilities ordinance. City lawyers then waited more than six months before informing City Council members and developers that the ruling meant pausing all major construction projects. The issue was not resolved through legislative changes until April.

In January, another Anne Arundel County judge remanded an Annapolis Planning Commission decision by allowing a Lutheran retirement community to move forward on the grounds that the commission and city attorneys issued an inadequate written decision. The city then hired attorneys from a Washington firm to begin writing decisions for the Planning  Commission. Another appeal of the decision is pending before the court.

Succeeding in federal court has also been a challenge for Lyles. Early in his tenure, he oversaw a  discrimination lawsuit settlement that led to 52 public residents receiving a total of $900,000 in damages from the city. The same federal judge is now overseeing a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of all Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis residents. In hopes of easing the city’s monetary liability in that case, with a potential more than 1,400 people to receive damages, Lyles attempted to sue the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A judge threw out that counterclaim in May. Lyles did not return a call seeking comment Thursday.

In an email sent Thursday morning to the mayor and City Council members, Lyles said he did not  know the timetable for his confirmation before the state Supreme Court.

“Thank you in advance for allowing me to serve you all and the city,” Lyles wrote in the email. “The city attorney position has truly been the best job I have ever had and I have worked on interesting things with great people and an active caring and nvolved [sic] mayor, city council and city leadership team.

Under Lyles’ leadership, the Annapolis Office of Law expanded to four attorneys and hired several more lawyers to serve as outside counsel. At the time of his hire, Lyles’ salary was set at $157,480.

If his nomination is approved by the Supreme Court of Maryland, Lyles will oversee an office charged with investigating ethical complaints submitted to the state Attorney Grievance Commission. The bar counsel’s staff includes two deputy bar counsel, one senior assistant bar counsel, eight assistant bar counsel, two staff attorneys, six investigators, a law clerk, an operations manager and eight support staff.

(Mike Frisch)