'Stage director' to end 18-year run in Baltimore County Circuit

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Aug 6, 2008 by Danny Jacobs

Peter J. Lally compares his job as court administrator for Baltimore County Circuit Court to being a stage director.

Instead of actors, props and scenery, he deals in judges, computers and courtrooms. But the philosophy is the same -- giving the right people the right resources at the right time.

"Judges are fine and masters are fine as long as you give them the things they need to do the job," he said.

Lally, 62, officially announced Monday he will close the curtain on his Towson courthouse production effective Oct. 6 after an 18- year run. His pending retirement was revealed to courthouse employees Tuesday in a letter from Judge John Grason Turnbull II, the county's administrative judge.

"He will be missed by all of the judges and staff in Baltimore County," Turnbull said in an interview.

A national search for Lally's replacement will begin soon, Turnbull said. An appointed panel of county judges will review candidates starting in September before the finalists are interviewed by the entire bench, he added.

Lally wrote in his letter he needed to "move in a different direction," and said he looks forward to spending more time with his family.

"[M]y decision is simply based on the fact that I believe it is the right time to retire, and if time allows, to do some 'pay-back' in terms of volunteering," he wrote.

Lally oversees approximately 100 employees, including 17 judges, seven masters and the directors of nearly a dozen court agencies. Retired Judge Barbara Kerr Howe credited Lally with leading the development of the court's current case management system in the mid- 1990s. During the 2006 fiscal year, it handled more than 30,000 cases.

"He will be impossible to replace," said Howe, now a settlement judge who also served as the county's administrative judge from 1992 to 1997.

Lally, a county native, was working as an assistant state court administrator in 1990 when he was asked by then-county Administrative Judge Edward A. DeWaters Jr. to take the place of Frank Broccolina, now the state court administrator.

At the time, Baltimore County had half as many judges as today and only one master, Lally recalled. He estimated the number of courtroom personnel has grown 20 percent during his tenure, and the courthouse itself added multiple hearing rooms, including three courtrooms on the fourth floor.

Special initiative

The biggest change, though, has been in special initiatives, Lally said. The county's Juvenile Drug Court, Civil Mediation Program and Family Division were all created under Lally, among other programs. The Family Division alone includes visitation centers, support services and the Family Employment Support Program, which helps parents find jobs to pay child support.

Despite the court's growth, Lally knew how to prioritize and keep things running smoothly, Judge Dana Mark Levitz said.

"He really understood the function of the court," said Levitz, the court's senior judge. "He knew how interested we are in being as efficient as we could be."

Levitz described Lally as always open to hearing new ideas. Howe said Lally was never confrontational and a good listener.

Lally, a graduate of the Institute for Court Management of the National Center for State Courts, said a court administrator should "have a vision" for the court and be proactive instead of reactive. His favorite part of the job has been seeing newly sober and clean teenagers graduate from Juvenile Drug Court.

Lally said he will be available to help with the transition to the new court administrator. Until then, it's business as usual. Installing wireless Internet throughout the courthouse is at the top of his to-do list, and he is eager to promote online jury duty forms so county residents can more easily fill out the qualification questionnaire or change their summons date.

"We're all about customer service in the court," he said.