M. Dean Jenkins

Criminal and DUI Lawyer in Ocean City Maryland

Representing clients in the State Courts on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, including: Worcester County, Wicomico County, Somerset County, Dorchester County & Talbot County.

M. Dean Jenkins graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1970. Mr. Jenkins also graduated in 1967 with high honors from the University of Maryland in College Park and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa Society honorary fraternity. He has been in private practice of criminal law since 1970 and has been a partner in Ayres, Jenkins, Gordy & Almand, P.A. since 1973. He is now in his 52nd year of criminal defense law.

Mr. Jenkins has been selected to Maryland SuperLawyers for 15 years, in 2008-2013, 2016-2024, in the area of criminal defense. Less than 5% of Maryland lawyers are selected to SuperLawyers.

Mr. Jenkins was inducted in 1999 as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. Fellowship is limited to the top 1% of the lawyers in the State. The American College of Trial Lawyers is composed of preeminent members of the Trial Bar from the United States and Canada and is recognized as the leading trial lawyers organization in both countries. Fellowship is extended only by invitation, after careful investigation, to those experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality. Membership is limited to only those trial lawyers who are unquestionably and eminently qualified, in addition to being regarded as the best in their state.

Mr. Jenkins is rated AV by the Martindale Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. The "A" signifies the highest level of legal ability. The "V" signifies very high adherence to the professional standards of conduct, ethics, reliability and diligence. Mr. Jenkins is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and of the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association.

Mr. Jenkins represents clients in felony and misdemeanor cases in District Court and Circuit Court, and on appeals. He has represented clients in over 45 jury trials. A significant part of his representation is for clients accused of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs and for administrative hearings on driver license issues.

In 1971, at the age of 26, and still in his first year of law practice, Mr. Jenkins was appointed by the Circuit Court for Worcester County, Maryland to represent a juvenile defendant, tried as an adult, and charged with murder in the first degree, as well as burglary, robbery, larceny and other felonies. The State prosecuted the first degree murder charge under the felony murder rule. After conviction by a jury, Mr. Jenkins wrote the appellate brief and argued before the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in Annapolis with regard to the first degree murder conviction. The Court reversed the first degree murder conviction and remanded the case for a new trial, based on the trial Court's improper refusal to grant Mr. Jenkins' requested jury instruction. The Court's opinion was considered a case of first impression in that it imposed limits on the application of the felony murder rule in Maryland. On remand the client pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree, and was ultimately paroled in less than seven years. The two co-defendants in the case were convicted of murder in the first degree, were sentenced to life imprisonment, and were not eligible for parole for 30 years. The case is Mumford v. State, and is reported in the Maryland Appellate Reports at 19 Md. App. 640 (1974).

Mr. Jenkins has been admitted to the following Bars for law practice:

1. Maryland Court of Appeals, Annapolis, 1970
2. United States District Court of Maryland, Baltimore, 1972
3. United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, Richmond, Virginia, 1973
4. United States Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., 1974