Edward J. “Bud” Brown was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1959, and grew up in the Towson, Maryland area. He graduated from Calvert Hall High School in 1978. While in college, Bud majored in Government, receiving a B.A. degree from Georgetown University in 1982. Bud was admitted to the Maryland Bar (1985) and the District of Columbia Bar (1988) after graduating with honors from The University of Maryland School of Law in 1985. Bud has obtained the highest rating from Martindale-Hubble (the prestigious AV rating, first awarded in 1998).

The Law Office of Edward J. Brown, LLC opened on March 17, 2008. Bud’s practice continues to focus on civil litigation and insurance coverage analysis and litigation, which has been the concentration of his practice for over 22 years. Bud’s career in civil litigation started at Smith, Somerville & Case (1985 to 1989). In 1989, Bud joined the Law Office of Harold A. MacLaughlin, and in 1992 he joined McCarthy Wilson wherein he became a partner in the firm on January 1, 2000.

In June of 2008 Bud was elected to be the President-Elect of the State’s civil defense bar organization, the Maryland Defense Counsel, and he has previously served as Secretary, Treasurer, and Chair of the Negligence and Insurance Committee and the Judicial Selections Committee. Bud also serves as a member of the Montgomery County Fee Dispute Committee, and has previously served as the chairperson of the Professionalism and Civility Subcommittee, and has also been a member of the Personal Injury, Attorney Referral and Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections. He has contributed articles on professionalism for the Montgomery County Bar Newsletter and insurance coverage issues for the MDC’s Defense Line, including articles on “Claims Made” Policy Issues, the new Absence of Good Faith Laws, and, in the Summer 2008 issue, the recent Maurer v. Penn National decision regarding the UIM’s carrier’s waiver of its liability defenses when consenting to a settlement.

Bud recently was an invited speaker on behalf at a presentation on Maryland’s Absence of Good Faith Laws, which was presented by the Maryland State Bar Association’s Litigation and Young Lawyers Sections, and he is currently serving as a co-chair on the MDC’s Task Force on the Absence of Good Faith Laws, which is monitoring the filings and decisions of the MIA and the Courts. He testified regarding the original version of the bill before the Maryland Senate.

Bud regularly attends the national DRI Trucking and Fire/Explosion seminars, as well as Mealey’s insurance coverage seminars. He has presented numerous lectures to insurance representatives on topics which include Garage Auto Policy coverage concerns, Rental Car First and Third Party Coverage Issues, Bad Faith Claims (including the developing law in policy depletion claims in multiple claimant accidents), the Absence of Good Faith laws, as well as evaluating and litigating shoulder, RSD, thoracic outlet and carpal tunnel claims, drafting Reservation of Rights and Disclaimer letters, and Collision and Comprehensive coverage issues.

Bud has tried over 125 jury trials in the Maryland and the District of Columbia, in addition to hundreds of bench trials, arbitrations and administrative hearings. He has argued dozens of appeals before the Maryland Court of Appeals and Court of Special Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. ADM Partnership v. Martin is one of the leading cases with respect to the defense of assumption of the risk, and Bud followed his victory in that case by successfully contributing a revision to the Maryland Civil Pattern Jury Instructions which added the objective standard language to the pattern jury instruction, (the instructions customarily given to the jury in the Circuit Courts of Maryland).

Bud is active in coaching in the youth recreation leagues in Howard County, Maryland. Sports, travel and music are his main pursuits when not practicing law.