Attorney
Brief info

Mr. Halstad is a partner in the firm and is admitted to practice in Maryland and Federal courts as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. He graduated from Loyola University with a B.A. and received an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University. He earned his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. Mr. Halstad has over 30 years of legal experience.

His areas of practice include:
Wills
Trusts
Estate administration
Estate disputes and litigation
Business law
Elder law

Before joining Hoffman, Comfort, Offutt, Scott & Halstad, LLP, Mr. Halstad held judicial clerkships with the Honorable Donald J. Gilmore, Circuit Court, Carroll County, and the Honorable John J. Garrity, Maryland Court of Special Appeals. He has also served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, Carroll Community College, and Anne Arundel Community College.

His current and previous civic and community involvement includes:

Carroll County Bar Association, President
Westminster City Council, President
Carroll Hospital, Board of Directors
Westminster City Ethics Commission, Chairman
Carroll County Council of Governments, President
American Heart Association, Carroll County Branch, President
Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals
Maryland Criminal Justice Advisory Board
Target Community and Educational Services, Board of Directors
Carroll Lutheran Village, Board of Trustees
Carroll County General Hospital Foundation Board
St. John’s Catholic Church School Board

Since 1996, Mr. Halstad has been a settlement officer for the Circuit Court for Carroll County. He is past Secretary and Treasurer of the Carroll County Bar Association and a member of the Maryland State Bar Association. He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and is a member of the Estates and Trusts Section of the Maryland State Bar Association. He has also served as a member of the Attorney Grievance Commission Peer Review Committee since 1994.

Attorney Halstad’s publications include “Aguilar v. State: Limiting the Terry Search,” published in the Maryland Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues, Vol. III, No. 2, Spring 1992, pp. 177-198; “The Tao of Litigation,” The Journal of the Legal Profession, University of Alabama School of Law, Vol. 19, pp. 93-116, 1994-95; “Admitting the Smoking Gun,” Maryland Bar Journal, November/December 1991, Volume XXIV, No. 6, pp. 36-37; and “Jerome Frank as Prophet: Courts on Trial Revisited,” University of Baltimore Law Forum, Spring 1992, Volume 22.3, pp. 13-15.

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