Remembering Alexander Cummings
April 9, 2008
To the legions of Maryland lawyers sworn in over the last quarter century, his signature was the imprimatur that sanctioned their membership in the profession. To Bessie Decker, who succeeded him as clerk of the Court of Appeals just last week, Alexander L. Cummings was a “dear friend” and a “good teacher.”
“He gave us that room to do our jobs without having him look over us,” Decker said of Cummings, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 66.
What’s your favorite memory of the former clerk?
BARBARA GRZINCIC, Managing Editor/Law
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Alex, was very kind and considerate of all people who dealt with the Court. Last year when my daughter was sworn in as a new young lawyer, Alex went out of his way to congratulate me and her and to arrange for her to meet with the judges on the Court of Appeals in advance of the formal ceremony. This was typical of the way he dealt with everyone. He will be missed.
In 1982, when I had just graduated from law school and before I had even been sworn in to the Bar, I argued a habeas corpus case in the Fourth Circuit under the Local Rule that allows law students to represent indigent clients. Alex, who at the time was head of the AG’s criminal appeals and correctional litigation division, was my “adversary” in that case, but I use the term only in its most technical sense. I remember him as being just as pleasant and professional as he could be, with no trace of condescension or bullying that one might expect in such a situation. It taught me very early that it’s possible to practice law at a high level and still be a gentlemen.