Lauri E. Cleary
Principal

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Areas of Practice:
Employment and Labor
Litigation
Includes:
Auto Dealership Law 
Commercial Litigation
Insurance Defense 
Labor and Employment Litigation  
Religious Organizations
Title Insurance Litigation 
White Collar Criminal Defense 

Phone:
(301) 657-0176

Fax:
(301) 347-1792

Email

AV

Bio	Personal    Information	Education	Professional    Memberships
Birth Information: 1960, Bethesda, Maryland Past Employment Positions:  1985-86, Law Clerk to the Honorable Howard S. Chasanow, Judge, Maryland Court of Appeals (Retired), while a judge of the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Maryland  Pro Bono Activities:  Montgomery County Bar Foundation Pro Bono Committee, Chair (2005-present), Law School for the Public, Chair (2007), Bar Leader (inducted 2006) Advisory Council for the Archdiocesan Legal Network of the Archdiocese of Washington, Member (2004-present)  University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, Maryland, 1985  J.D., Juris Doctor  University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 1982  B.A., Bachelor of Arts  Major: English   Bar Admissions Admitted to practice in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia  Admitted to practice before the: United States Supreme Court  United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit United States District Court for the District of Maryland United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia United States District Court for the District of Columbia Maryland State Bar Association, Member  District of Columbia Bar Association, Member  Virginia State Bar Association, Member  Montgomery County Bar Association, Long Range Planning Committee Co-Chair (2006-present) Prince Georges County Bar Association, Member  Other Associations and Organizations NITA Advocates Association, Member  John Carroll Society of Washington, D.C., Member; Recipient, 2007 Pro Bono Services Award Alpha Chi Omega National Sorority, Gamma Theta Chapter (University of Maryland)

Ms. Cleary is a member of the firm's litigation group, and has served on its Board of Directors. She represents individual and corporate clients, including religious and other nonprofit organizations and educational institutions, automobile dealers, financial institutions, title insurers and other insurance underwriters in a wide range of complex commercial, employment, tort, insurance, and white collar criminal defense matters. Her experience as a litigator qualifies her to serve as a counselor, sharing risk management and litigation avoidance strategies with the firm’s clients. 

Born in Bethesda, Maryland in October of 1960, Ms. Cleary is a lifelong resident of Montgomery County. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where she received her B.A. degree in English in 1982 and her J.D. degree in 1985. Ms. Cleary joined the firm in 1986, after serving as judicial law clerk to the Honorable Howard S. Chasanow (Retired), Court of Appeals of Maryland, then a member of the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Maryland. She is admitted to practice in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia, and has successfully managed all aspects of litigating trial and appellate cases before state and federal courts and administrative agencies in all three jurisdictions. 

As many of the matters Ms. Cleary litigates arise out of employment relationships, she has developed particular expertise in the area of employment law. As such, she has spoken to risk management and human resource professionals on a variety of topics, including sexual harassment, hiring and termination practices, and questions of liability for the acts of employees and volunteers.

Ms. Cleary’s representation also extends to title insurance underwriters and their insured claimants in resolving complex settlement escrow and land title issues. Additionally, Ms. Cleary has more than 20 years of experience representing auto dealers in all manner of operational and franchise matters. In connection with our insurance defense practice, Ms. Cleary works closely with claims counsel defending a wide variety of tort and commercial litigation claims. 

Her representation of religious organizations has allowed Ms. Cleary to develop particular expertise in issues involving First Amendment religious freedoms, and complements her strong commitment to the pro bono representation of indigent persons. She has served as Chair of the Montgomery County Bar Foundation's Pro Bono Committee since 2005, and as a member of the Advisory Council of the Archdiocesan Legal Network of the Archdiocese of Washington since 2004. In September of 2007, Ms Cleary was awarded the John Carroll Society’s Pro Bono Service Award in recognition of her representation of the indigent and homeless in the metropolitan area, as well as her efforts to assist other attorneys in the firm to pursue this important professional responsibility.