The Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Maryland. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has the general charge, supervision, and direction of the State’s legal business, acting as legal advisors and representatives of the major agencies, various boards, commissions, officials, and institutions of State Government. The OAG also protects the public by civil enforcement of antitrust, civil rights, consumer protection, and securities laws and regulations and by the prosecution of organized crime, Medicaid fraud, environmental crimes, insurance fraud, state tax evasion, and other statutorily assigned matters. As Maryland’s 47th Attorney General, Anthony G. Brown leads the Office with a critical focus on equity, justice, and fairness.
The Office of the Attorney General is seeking an experienced and dynamic attorney to serve as Deputy Principal Counsel for the Maryland Department of Transportation (“MDOT”). This key leadership role will assist the MDOT Principal Counsel in providing, coordinating and overseeing comprehensive legal representation and advice across MDOT’s various modal administrations. The Deputy Principal Counsel will work closely with the MDOT Principal Counsel in providing strategic legal guidance and support to the Secretary of Transportation and ensuring consistency across the diverse operations of MDOT. MDOT is modeled after the US Department of Transportation and each modal administration deals with a specific mode of transportation in Maryland. The MDOT modal administrations are the Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA), Maryland Port Administration (MPA), Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), Maryland Transit Administration (MTA)State Highway Administration (SHA) and the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) which operates Maryland’s tolled bridges and tunnels. The Deputy Principal Counsel will join 62 attorneys and 20 professionals across MDOT and the modal administrations.
Responsibilities
The MDOT Deputy Principal Counsel will be responsible for coordinating advice and counsel directly with Principal Counsel and leadership from the various MDOT modal administrations. The Deputy Principal Counsel will take the lead on providing legal advice and counsel to the MDOT Secretary as well as MDOT modal administrators and executive directors on MDOT’s Public Private Partnerships (P3s) Agreements such as the Purple Line and Red Line Projects. In addition, the Deputy Principal Counsel represents MDOT and its modal administrations in litigation in courts and before administrative agencies as well as providing advice on a variety of issues such as real estate, grants, public finance, procurement, personnel/EEO/employee relations, Public Information Act (PIA), Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), and ethics.
The Deputy Principal Counsel will assist the Principal Counsel to set office policies and priorities; assist with budget decisions to determine office needs as provided by MDOT, request and allocate resources; supervise attorneys and staff in the Secretary’s office; support the Principal Counsel with the supervision of the Assistant Principal Counsel at the modal administrations; ensure that each staff member understands what duties are assigned and performs them well; reassign staff as necessary to serve the client in a timely and efficient way; even out workloads; provide guidance and mentorship, and make the best use of their talents to provide the best possible legal services to MDOT and the public. The Deputy Principal Counsel will also provide regular feedback to staff regarding their performance and encourage a high level of collaboration, productivity, teamwork, morale and professionalism among staff. The Deputy Principal Counsel will be expected to handle portions of the Principal Counsel’s and/or other attorneys’ workloads when workloads are especially high or when attorneys are absent.
Qualifications
The ideal candidate should have a minimum of eight years of experience ideally in a role supervising and leading attorneys in providing litigation support and counsel/advice on a wide range of issues to include personnel, Public Private Partnerships and transactional matters. The selected candidate should be skilled in overseeing large-scale litigation efforts, managing the workflow of multiple attorneys and legal professionals. This role requires experience working with external partners, including government agencies, private sector partners and contractors. The ideal candidate will possess excellent writing and research skills. Maryland Bar admission or the ability waive in, is required.
Application Process
Interested persons should submit their resume with a cover letter, writing sample, and list of references via email to MDOT Principal Counsel, Christopher L. Fontaine at cfontaine@mdot.maryland.gov with a copy to Office Manager Christina Ackerman at cackerman1@mdot.maryland.gov by the close of business on Friday, September 26, 2025. Please write “MDOT Deputy Principal Counsel” in the subject of the email.
