D. Bruce Poole

D. Bruce Poole

Attorney
  • The Poole Law Group
  • 29 W Franklin St Hagerstown, MD 21740
  • 301-790-3600

Bruce Poole, Esq. has been representing clients and trying cases for over 37 years. Having completed well over 100 jury and bench trials in his career, Bruce isn't afraid to take a case to trial.  As a premier trial lawyer, Bruce has secured some of the largest verdicts in the history of this area and, most recently, a 2.2 million dollar jury verdict in Baltimore City.   He has successfully argued cases before the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and Maryland Court of Appeals.  He has been named by The National Trial Lawyers to the Top 100 Civil Trial Attorneys’ List and, in 2017, received a lifetime achievement membership in America's Top 100 Attorneys. He is also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, honorary organizations for the top trial lawyers in America, as well as the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys,  National Trial Lawyers: Top 10 Trucking Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice, the American Association for Justice's Trucking Litigation Group, the Maryland Bar Association, the Maryland Association for Justice, and the Washington County Bar Association.  He has received a Martindale-Hubbell AV-Preeminent rating from fellow attorneys relative to the quality of his work and his ethical dealings.

 

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Bruce has crafted and negotiated all types of agreements and partnerships. He has many and varied ties in the circles of law, politics, business, labor, entertainment, renewable energy, real estate and health care and often is able to reach agreements and forge relationships of great benefit.  

Bruce was born and raised in Washington County, Maryland. He received both a B.A. and law degree from Washington and Lee University, where he was co-author of the Best Brief in the Nation and ranked as one of the top fifteen oral advocates in the nation in the 1984 Jessup International Moot Court Competition. Bruce was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1985, the United States District Court, District of Maryland bar in 1999, and as Counsel Pro Hac Vice to the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, Central District, in 2019, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in 2022. 

Bruce has gone on to provide years of public and private service.  He served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates for twelve years (1987-1999), becoming the youngest member ever to serve as House Majority Leader (1990-1993). In 1990, Bruce was admitted to the Maryland Bar Foundation (an organization dedicated to fostering and maintaining honor and integrity within the profession) and was named Outstanding Young Marylander by the Maryland Jaycees in 1991. Bruce is a former member of the Maryland State Ethics Commission and a past Faculty Member of the Maryland State Bar Association course on Conduct and Professionalism. 

Currently, Bruce serves as the Chair of the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. He was a member of the 2008-2019 Board of Trustees for the University of Maryland Medical System. He has served as a member of the Governor’s Commission for the Licensing of Video Lottery Terminals. Most recently, he was appointed to the 2021 Governor's Salary Commission for a 4-year term.   He has served as the Chair of the State of Maryland's Task Force on the Study of Alcohol Regulation, Enforcement, Safety and Public Health, and served as a member of the Washington County Bar Bench Committee and the Maryland Judicial Elections Monitoring Committee.  He is proud to have served as co-counsel to the Maryland State Firemen's Association. 

Bruce has appeared as a witness before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and was an expert witness before the National Tobacco Settlement Arbitration Panel. Although he has been practicing now for thirty-seven (37) years, Bruce continues to upgrade his legal skills and education. He regularly attends state and national seminars such as the National Trial Lawyers Summit, Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, and seminars and courses produced by Mark Lanier, the American Association for Justice, and the 360 Advocacy Institute, in order to keep abreast of changes and new techniques. Bruce and his wife, Kathy, have been married for thirty-two years. They have one son.  Bruce is a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Hagerstown.