Municipal Attorneys Association

Welcome to the Maryland Municipal Attorneys’ Association!

The Maryland Municipal Attorneys’ Association (MMAA) was formed by the MML Board of Directors on October 21, 1972, on a motion by the President of the Town and City Administrator's Department, A. Louis Hayward and the direct encouragement of then MML Executive Director Peter Harkins.  The motion for approval came during an MML Board meeting in Easton, Maryland, and noted that while adding the town and city attorneys as a department was a new step for MML, it was not unprecedented -- as the states of California and New Jersey had already taken similar action.

Benefits to MML from taking this action were noted to include, among others, a new source of information exchange, adding the expertise of town and city attorneys into legislative and special study committees, and to expand the Annual Conference Program to now include training sessions from town and city attorneys, under the auspices of the new MMAA.  The motion by A. Louise Hayward and the City and Town Administrator's Department was approved (click here for the motion and the resolution).  

And thus, since October 21, 1972, the MMAA has been an affiliate department of the Maryland Municipal League. The MMAA is a forum for attorneys representing municipalities - who may often find themselves responding to new issues, where their municipal clients require an answer in a very short amount of time. We thus seek to provide a way to meet and share ideas as well as provide information on legal issues affecting municipalities.

One way we try to encourage collaboration and sharing ideas is by making connections with other MMAA members possible; the page giving the membership list has a listing that includes addresses. And while we did not include member emails or phone numbers on these lists, that contact information is available on request for any MMAA member, with a simple click on that same membership list page.

MMAA sponsors educational programs on state and federal legislation, court decisions, administrative rulings, and other subjects of concern to municipal attorneys. Members receive the "Maryland Municipal Attorneys’ Quarterly Newsletter" which alerts municipal attorneys about developments in case law, attorney general opinions, legislation, and other topics of interest.

This website includes pages on our current officers, bylaws, the newsletter (which will include past newsletters), information on past meetings, and as noted above, a listing of current members. In addition, a page includes a listing of attorneys designated by each municipality in Maryland as their Town or City Attorney, as well as a listing of the municipalities each attorney serves or represents.  Finally, a page is devoted to special or particular issues upon which attorneys or municipal officials may seek some background; while not legal advice, information on the page provides a summary on certain key issues, such as the Open Meetings Act.

If you’re a municipal attorney in Maryland who hasn’t joined us, or a current MMAA member with a suggestion or idea for our website, we look forward to hearing from you! Contact website manager.

To join, we need only your name, contact information (address, phone, cellphone, email) and identification of the municipality you represent. Your membership is then presented to MMAA members at the next upcoming meeting.