(ANNAPOLIS, Md. — March 11, 2015) Maryland Court of Appeals Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera has named Suzanne Schneider as her chief of staff. Schneider, who had been the assistant court administrator for the Montgomery County Circuit Court, will begin her new duties March 11.

As chief of staff, Schneider reports directly to Chief Judge Barbera and will manage the daily operations of the chief judge’s chambers, including supervising staff, handling communications, inquiries, and scheduling, providing research, reviewing reports, advising, and, as directed, communicating on the chief judge’s behalf. In addition to leading the state’s highest court, Chief Judge Barbera is the head of Maryland’s judicial branch and is responsible for the administration of the state court system, overseeing a budget of $468 million with nearly 300 judges and about 4,000 employees.

“Suzanne brings a wealth of varied experience and skills to this role,” Chief Judge Barbera said. “She has an impressive track record of problem-solving, prioritizing, multitasking and consensus-building. These wide-ranging attributes and abilities make her an outstanding choice to help achieve the Judiciary’s goal of improving service to all the people who have business with our courts.”

“I am looking forward to this new challenge and new opportunity to serve the people of Maryland, and I am honored to have been chosen by Chief Judge Barbera,” Schneider said. “I plan to work closely with my colleagues in the Judiciary to help ensure that the Judiciary’s operations run smoothly and efficiently and to provide Chief Judge Barbera with the information and tools she needs as the leader of Maryland’s courts.”

A member of the Maryland bar since 1993, Schneider has served as the assistant court administrator, differentiated case management coordinator, family division coordinator, and juvenile division coordinator for the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland. Prior to joining the Circuit Court, Schneider prosecuted criminal cases as an assistant state’s attorney, specializing in financial and high tech crimes, while also serving as administrative services coordinator for the Office of the State’s Attorney for Montgomery County.

Schneider initiated the criminal law reform program for the American Bar Association (ABA-CEELI) in Uzbekistan from 1999 to 2000 as a volunteer liaison and served as the first resident country director for the ABA-CEELI Rule of Law Program in the former Soviet republic of Georgia from 2000 to 2001. Between 2005 and 2009, she completed long-term consultancies for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Criminal Justice Reform Unit and for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT). More recently, she has served as a consulting expert for a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) judicial strengthening project and for U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Courts Technical Assistance Projects (CCTAP) administered through the American University’s Justice Programs Office.

Schneider graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1993, the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars in 1985, and Rice University in 1984. She completed the National Center for State Courts’ Institute for Court Management Court Executive Certification in 2014 and is certified as an ICM instructor in the human resources and high performing courts courses.

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