Harold M. Walter, Principal
Business Litigation
| Email: | hwalter@offitkurman.com |
| Office Phone: | 410.209.6400 |
| Fax: | 410.209.6435 |
| Mailing Address: | 300 E. Lombard Street Suite 2010 Baltimore, MD 21202 |
| Download vCard: | vCard |
Practice Areas
Awards
Practice Focus
Harold "Hal" Walter is a Principal Attorney in the Business Litigation Practice Group, and also works as an intellectual property (IP) litigation attorney. Mr. 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 of multimillion dollar commercial and business claims representing either plaintiffs or defendants
- (vi) managing litigation, including acting as national or regional counsel for clients with multistate litigation, involving the hiring, supervision, and direction of local counsel and devising and implementing litigation management systems, all within a budget
- (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, Eastern and Western 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. Each year since 2007, he was chosen by his peers and through independent research by Law & Politics Magazine as a Maryland Super Lawyer (published in Baltimore Magazine) 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 Attorneys At Law, 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.
