Hall Hammond (May 18, 1902 – November 27, 1991) was an American jurist and politician who served as Chief Judge of the

Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

and Attorney General for the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Hammond was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

to William S. Hammond and Rosalie Hall Hammond. He received his early education from the

Gilman School Gilman School is an all-boys independent school located in the Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. There are three school divisions: Lower School, grades pre-kindergarten through five; Middle School, grades six through eight; and Up ...

, the Jefferson School, and Baltimore City College. He received his

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

in 1923, and his

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in 1925 from the

University of Maryland School of Law The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (formerly University of Maryland School of Law) is the law school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is located in Baltimore City, Maryland, U.S. Its location places Maryland L ...

. He married Elizabeth Ashton Luck in 1934. Hammond's early legal career was with the firm of Willis & Hudgins, whom he worked for from 1925 to 1929. He began his own practice in 1929, which he maintained until 1952. He served as Deputy Attorney General of Maryland from 1938 to 1946, and as

Attorney General of Maryland The Attorney General of the State of Maryland is the chief legal officer of the State of Maryland in the United States and is elected by the people every four years with no term limits. To run for the office a person must be a citizen of and qua ...

from 1947 to 1952. He also served as Secretary of the Alcoholic Beverage Survey Commission from 1942 to 1943. Hammond was confirmed as an associate judge of the

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland is the highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. Its name was changed on December 14, 2022, from the Maryland Court of Appeals, after a voter-approved change to the state constitution. The court, which is compose ...

in 1952, and, in 1966, he was confirmed as chief judge of the court. While on the court, he petitioned the government to create the

Maryland Court of Special Appeals Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to i ...

to ease the workload of his court. He was also the first chief judge of the Court of Appeals to present to the

Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber ...

a "State of the Judiciary" address. Hammond retired from the court in 1972, and served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Children's Hospital School and South Baltimore General Hospital, amongst other things.

References

Biography
from the Maryland Archives 1902 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers Baltimore City College alumni Chief Judges of the Maryland Court of Appeals Gilman School alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Lawyers from Baltimore Maryland Attorneys General University of Maryland, Baltimore alumni {{Maryland-state-judge-stub