Ayers, McCullough To Fill Montgomery County Circuit Court Vacancies

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan made four judicial appointments on Thursday, including two in Montgomery County and the first woman in the state's history to serve in the Worcester County District Court.

"I am proud to appoint such distinguished individuals to serve in our state’s judicial system,” Hogan said, in a release. “Our state is gaining an immensely talented and principled group of judges who will honorably serve the citizens of their respective counties and Maryland in the years to come. I want to especially congratulate Cathi Coates as she becomes the first woman in state history to serve on the Worcester County District Court.”

Hogan also appointed Marybeth Ayers and J. Bradford McCullough to fill two vacancies on the Montgomery County Circuit Court.

The following biographies of Ayers and McCullough were taken from Hogan's news release:

Mary Elizabeth Ayres is the Chief of the Major Crimes Division at the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, where she began working as an Assistant State’s Attorney in 2004. The Major Crimes Division handles homicides, attempted murders, home invasions, armed robberies and other major crimes affecting the community. Ms. Ayres has tried over 20 murder cases. Before coming to Montgomery County, she worked in the Homicide Division at the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, and worked in the Queens County, New York, District Attorney’s Office.

She has been a prosecutor since 1998. She received her B.A. from Bucknell University and received her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.

James Bradford McCullough is a commercial and business litigator and appellate attorney at Lerch, Early & Brewer in Bethesda. He represents businesses and individuals in a wide variety of cases in both the federal and state trial and appellate courts, as well as before arbitration panels and in mediation proceedings. Mr. McCullough has handled shareholder’s derivative litigation, corporate directors’ and officers’ liability claims, business dissolutions, lender liability litigation, disputes concerning non-competition agreements, and matters arising from the Uniform Commercial Code.

He received his B.A from McDaniel College, formerly Western Maryland College, and received his J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Hogan also appointed Justin Gregory to the Garrett County Circuit Court.