Nathan Braverman is a retired Senior Judge of the District Court of Maryland who brings more than four decades of legal, judicial, and dispute-resolution experience to mediation. Before taking the bench in 2000, he spent nearly 20 years litigating in state and federal courts, including commercial and estate litigation, torts, and complex regulatory and insurance-related matters. Judge Braverman has considerable experience evaluating disputed facts, legal issues, and litigation risk, and has served both as an arbitrator and as a private and court-appointed mediator in the Appellate Court of Maryland and several circuit and orphans’ courts across the state.
Background
JUDGE BRAVERMAN is a 1981 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law. Prior to his appointment to the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City in July 2000, he practiced in state and federal courts for nearly 20 years. While an assistant attorney general, Judge Braverman prosecuted criminal cases with the Maryland Attorney General’s Environmental Crimes and Insurance Fraud Units, and litigated civil cases on behalf of the Maryland Department of Health.
In private practice, he concentrated on commercial litigation and tax controversy matters. Judge Braverman has been an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Law, an instructor at the Maryland Judicial Institute and Maryland Judicial College, and is past chair of the Judiciary’s Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure and the Committee to Study Extended Media Coverage in Criminal Cases. Judge Braverman has also served on the Judicial Council and as an elected member of the District Court Administrative Judges Committee. He retired from the bench and was immediately recalled in 2016, and has served as a presiding judge in every district court in the state.
A member of the Judiciary’s ADR Committee and Chair of its Workgroup on Best Practices for Circuit Court Civil Mediation Programs, Judge Braverman also provides mediation services, privately and as a court-appointed mediator in the ADR programs offered by the Appellate Court of Maryland and the Circuit Courts for Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard County, and Queen Anne’s County, and the Prince George’s County Orphans’ Court. He is a rostered mediator for the Maryland Realtors Mediation Program, and a panel arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Education
- University of Maryland School of Law, J.D. 1981, with honors
Honors: Order of the Coif; American Jurisprudence Award (Criminal Law); Margaret E. Coonan Book Award for Excellence in Legal Methods; President, Class of 1981. - University of South Florida, B.A. (Pol.Sci.) 1978, magna cum laude
Professional Experience
Judge, District Court of Maryland, District One (Baltimore City), July 24, 2000 to September 2016, presiding over criminal, civil, domestic violence, landlord-tenant, land use and traffic cases. Retired and recalled to statewide service, September 2016 to the present.
Law Practice: Practiced in Baltimore from 1981 to 2000, in private practice and with the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland. Served as both a prosecutor and defense attorney in cases involving tax, environmental, insurance fraud and other financial crimes. Represented civil plaintiffs and defendants in commercial and insurance disputes, civil rights and employment discrimination cases, tort claims, tax and environmental controversies, trusts and estates, and real estate disputes in federal and state trial and appellate courts.
Rostered Mediator/ADR Practitioner: Appellate Court of Maryland; Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County; Circuit Court for Baltimore City; Circuit Court for Baltimore County; Circuit Court for Howard County; Circuit Court for Queen Anne’s County; Orphans’ Court for Prince Georges County; Maryland Association of Realtors; FINRA Qualified Dispute Resolution Arbitrator.
Bar Admissions: Maryland Court of Appeals; U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals; U.S. Claims Court; U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland; U.S. Tax Court
Professional Honors and Activities
Maryland Judicial Conference: Maryland Judicial Council (2013-16); Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (2015 to present)(Chair, Best Practices for Circuit Court Civil Mediation Work Group, 2025 to present); Maryland Judiciary Work Group on Standards of Conduct for Mediators (2016-2020); Education Committee Mentor Subcommittee (2015-20); Chair, Maryland Judiciary Committee to Study Extended Media Coverage of Criminal Cases (2007-08); Criminal Law and Procedure Committee (Chair 2004-06; member 2001-06); Problem Solving Courts Committee Truancy Subcommittee (2007-2008).
District Court of Maryland ADR Ally Award (2023)
Member, Maryland Program for Mediator Excellence (2016-present).
Office of the Attorney General Exceptional Service Award (2000).
Current or Past Lecturer/Instructor: Judicial College of Maryland (Replevin/Detinue; Landlord-Tenant; Case Management); District Court of Maryland Commissioner Academy (Probable Cause); University of Maryland School of Law (Legal Analysis, Writing and Research); University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business (Federal Tax Procedure); Maryland State Bar Association Professionalism Course; National White Collar Crime Center (Search and Seizure – Electronic Media); Northeast Hazardous Waste Conference (Search and Seizure).
Member, Maryland State Bar Association (past member, Environmental Law and Tax Sections); Bar Association of Baltimore City (past member, Executive Council, Ethics Committee, and Fee Arbitration Committees; past chair, Legislation Committee; Young Lawyers Division Review and Reform Committee; Criminal Law Committee). MSBA Content Developer (2019-22).
Member, Office of the Attorney General Pro Bono Coordinating Committee (1989-90).
Publications:
Book Review: Autopsy of a Crime Lab – Exposing the Flaws in Forensics, Maryland Bar Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 2 (2022)
“Companies Named for Rodney Dangerfield ‘Get No Respect’ From Court of Special Appeals,” Maryland Bar Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 2 (2022)
“Construction Lender Has No Duty to Ensure Payment to Subcontractor in Absence of Privity,” Maryland Bar Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 1 (2021)
“RT3: An Annual MSBA Tradition on Two Wheels,” Maryland Bar Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 1 (2021)
“Maryland High Court Recognizes Independent Cause of Action for Breach of Fiduciary Duty,” Maryland Bar Journal, Vol.2, Issue 2 (2020)
“Revisiting the Constitutionality of Broadcast Criminal Trials,” Maryland Bar Journal, Vol. XLI, No. 6 (December 2008).
Report of the Committee to Study Extended Media Coverage of Criminal Trial Proceedings in Maryland (February 2008)(Principal Author)(http://www.courts.state.md.us/publications/pdfs/mediacoveragereport08.pdf).
Environmental Law and You, A Guide to Compliance in Maryland, National Business Institute (October 1993).
“A Lawyer’s Code of Professionalism,” The Barrister (BABC)
Vol. 2, No. 4 (Fall 1989)(Co-author).
“Final Regs. Implement Limited Exceptions to Substantial Understatement Penalty,” 63 Journal of Taxation 2 (July 1985) (Co-author).
Community Activities
Board Memberships: Center for Jewish Education (2007 to 2021; President, 2017 to 2019); Hampden Family Center (2000-2006; Co-Chair, Strategic Planning Committee, 2005); The Towers at Harbor Court HOA (2022 to 2026).
BLEWS Black-Jewish Leadership Initiative (Class of 2006).
Volunteer Judge, UB School of Law Truancy Court (2006).
Certified Reading Tutor, Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. (since 1996).
Adult Literacy Instructor/Tutor: The Learning Bank of COIL, Inc. (1996- 2001).