Louis Leibowitz

City/town of residence: Rockville

Age: 49

Current/previous employers:

  • Associate judge, Montgomery County Circuit Court (2022-present)
  • Owner, Law Offices of Louis M. Leibowitz, LLC (2011-2022)
  • Attorney, Stein, Sperling, Bennett, De Jong, Driscoll & Greenfeig, P.C. (2008-2011)
  • Assistant public defender, Office of the Public Defender (2002-2008)
  • Law clerk, Judge Gerald Fisher (2001-2002)

Political experience: None

Website: www.electsittingjudgesmcs.com

Email: electjudgelml@gmail.com

Social media links (Facebook, Instagram, X, etc.): facebook.com/electsittingjudgesmontgomerycounty

Why are you running for office?

I’m running because of the Constitution. That’s the law, and I’m required to run, and it’s important that we have good judges. We do so many different things. We handle divorces and custody, we handle all the major civil cases, we handle the big criminal cases, almost all the felonies, we do the jury trials, we handle juvenile cases and we do probate.

Even if you aren’t personally before the court ever, it’s almost a certainty that you know somebody who will be or who has been. It’s an important part of our democracy for everyone to be able to have their disputes resolved in a peaceful, fair way, according to the law.

What experience (work, political or other) has prepared you to hold this office?

We handle a wide variety of cases, like custody, divorce, all different kinds of civil cases and serious criminal cases. I was probably the only lawyer in Montgomery County, and maybe in the state, who can say that I have tried and won in a child custody case, an adverse possession case and a first-degree murder case.

What’s prepared me for this job is being a father and handling over 6,000 cases in my life. People come before me who are in all different situations, and I try to lean on my experience as a parent to understand where people are coming from.

What’s the most important issue in this election?

The most important thing is for Montgomery County to end up with the four most experienced qualified people to be judge. Also, I’m committed to educating folks because most people don’t know anything about the judges, they don’t know who we are, they don’t know the process and they don’t know anything about the court system. And that’s OK; we don’t expect them to.

Is there anything else you’d like to comment on about this race?

It’s very humbling to be so thoroughly supported. Democrats and Republicans, people who don’t agree on much, agree that sitting judges should be elected. It’s humbling and honoring to have their support.