Damian L. Halstad

Mr. Halstad is a partner in the firm and is admitted to practice in Maryland State 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.

Before joining Hoffman, Comfort, Offutt, Scott & Halstad, LLP, Mr. Halstad was a law clerk for the Honorable Donald J. Gilmore, Circuit Court, Carroll County, and then for 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 civic and community involvement includes:

- Westminster City Councilman (1993—2005, 2009 to present)

- Westminster City Council President (1999—2005, 2009 to present)

- Carroll County Council of Governments (President, 2003)

- Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals (1992—1993)

- American Heart Association, President, Carroll County Branch (1992)

- Maryland Criminal Justice Advisory Board (1996—2005)

- Carroll Lutheran Village, Board of Trustees (2003—2006)

- Carroll County General Hospital Foundation Board (1993—1997)

- St. John’s Catholic Church School Board (1993—1997)

Since 1996, Mr. Halstad has been a settlement officer for the Circuit Court for Carroll County. He is a member of the Carroll County Bar Association (Treasurer, 2012—2013) and 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.