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Richard D. Bennett, District Judge

101 West Lombard Street
Chambers 5D
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 962-3190


Judge Richard D. Bennett received a B.A. Degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he was selected to the Sphinx Senior Honor Society in recognition of his achievements at the University.  He achieved his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, where he served as a Member of the Maryland Law Review and won academic awards.

In 1976 he was appointed as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for Maryland and remained in that position until 1981 when he returned to private practice.

In 1991 Judge Bennett was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland. In that position he received the Outstanding Service Award from the Maryland State’s Attorneys Association and the award from the Governor of Maryland for outstanding contributions in the field of victim rights.

In 1993 Judge Bennett returned to private practice as a partner at the  Maryland law firm of Miles and Stockbridge, where he headed that firm’s white collar criminal defense and government investigations practice.  In 2002, he was recognized by a respected national publication as one of the “Best Lawyers in America.” During his tenure with the firm, Judge Bennett was also retained by the U.S. House of Representatives as Special Counsel to an investigation of foreign campaign contributions in the 1996 American Presidential Election. In addition to his active federal trial practice, he was the 1994 Republican candidate for Attorney General of Maryland and the 1998 Republican candidate for Lt. Governor.

On January 29, 2003, Judge Bennett was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.  With the strong bipartisan support of U.S. Senators Paul S. Sarbanes and Barbara A. Mikulski, his nomination was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate and he received his commission on April 10, 2003.

Judge Bennett served over 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserve and Maryland National Guard, and is a Major in the Retired Reserve. He received the Maryland Commendation Medal for Outstanding Service, the Maryland Distinguished Service Cross for Service Beyond the Call of Duty and the Meritorious Service Medal.

Judge Bennett is a member of the American Bar Association and is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Maryland Bar Foundation.  In October of 2009, Judge Bennett was appointed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. to serve on the International Judicial Relations Committee of the U.S. Judicial Conference.  He has traveled extensively in Central and Eastern Europe participating in judicial exchange programs in Russia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Ukraine and the Czech Republic.

He served on the Board of Trustees of Severn School from 1993 to 2002, and in 2003 received the school’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.  He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy-Krieger Institute for Disabled Children.  He has also served on the Board of Visitors of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law which has awarded him the prestigious Barbera Judicial Excellence Award in recognition of his exemplifying the highest standards of judicial excellence and extraordinary courage in the handling of complex and difficult cases.  

In July of 2021, Judge Bennett assumed Senior Status.  Since becoming a Senior District Judge, he has been frequently designated and assigned by Chief Justice Roberts to sit with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.