Harold M. Walter

Principal

Washington Area: Phone 301.575.0348 | Fax 301.575.0335
Baltimore Area: Phone 443.738.1548 | Fax 443.738.1535
hwalter@offitkurman.com

Practice Areas
Commercial and Business Litigation
Business Transactions
Intellectual Property

Practice Focus
Harold "Hal" Walter's practice focuses on complex civil litigation including product liability, toxic tort, and a wide variety of commercial and business litigation. Highlights of Mr. Walter's legal experiences include: (i) defense verdicts in the first two cases to go to verdict in the United States alleging that ELF/EMF caused brain tumors; (ii) the trial of numerous consolidated product liability and mass tort cases involving multiple plaintiffs and multiple defendants in which punitive damages were at issue; (iii) the argument of hundreds of motions and participation in over a thousand depositions; (iv) fluency in the language of medicine, statistics, and science, honed through the presentation and cross-examination of the world's leading experts on a variety of medical, epidemiological, and scientific issues; (v) the trial of a variety multi-million dollar commercial and business claims representing either plaintiffs or defendants; (vi) managing litigation, including acting as national or regional counsel for clients with multi-state litigation, involving the hiring, supervision, and direction of local counsel and devising and implementing litigation management systems, all within a budget; and (vii) counseling business clients, with a particular emphasis on intellectual property and the entertainment industry.

Education
J.D., University of Maryland, 1982
B.A., Franklin and Marshall College, 1979

Bar and Court Admissions
Maryland
New York
District of Columbia
United States Supreme Court
United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States District Court for Maryland
United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Points of Distinction
Harold Walter has been recognized by The National Law Journal as one of the nation's Top Ten Winning attorneys in recognition of his impressive victories in jury trials of national significance. The NLJ identified Mr. Walter as among the nation's best at establishing credibility with jurors and winning difficult cases. A skillful negotiator, Mr. Walter has also resolved cases in both practical and creative ways. Clients have compared Mr. Walter to a master chess champion who sees the end-game; then plans and executes a winning legal strategy to get there. Mr. Walter represents his clients with his whole heart and full legal acumen to get the best possible outcome.

Mr. Walter received the highest professional (AV) rating from his peers, as reported by Martindale-Hubbell. In 2007 and 2008 he was chosen by his peers and through independent research by Law & Politics Magazine as a Maryland Super Lawyer (published in Baltimore Magazine January 2007 and January 2008 issues) and in the nationwide Corporate Counsel Edition as a top lawyer in Business Litigation. Mr. Walter has been recognized by The National Law Journal as one of the nation's ten leading litigators (June 10, 2002 issue, "The Art of the Win").

Activities
Mr. Walter has served on various charitable boards and is presently a member of the board of directors of US Against MS.

Publications/Speeches
Mr. Walter has written and lectured regarding legal/medical issues as they arise in litigation or potential litigation. He chaired a national symposium of the nation's leading attorneys that focused on trial practices that win cases. He has co-authored a manual on "Trial Preparation From Start to Finish." Mr. Walter has recently written several articles for national journals on electronic discovery and selection of expert witnesses.

Previous Work
Before joining Offit Kurman, Mr. Walter was a Partner with a large downtown Baltimore law firm. Immediately following law school, he served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Richard P. Gilbert, Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.