MEET THE JUDGES

Judge Marybeth Ayres was appointed by Governor Larry Hogan to the Montgomery County Circuit Court after a thorough vetting process where she was interviewed by many respected professionals and deemed qualified to sit as a Circuit Court Judge. She was then sworn in as a Circuit Court Judge for Montgomery County in December, 2022. Since then, she has been presiding over family law hearings and trials, as well as many other criminal and civil matters. Before being appointed to the bench, Judge Ayres served as the chief of the major crimes division at the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office where she tried many murder cases, as well as other serious violent felonies such as attempted murder, rape, serial rape, home invasion and armed robbery cases. Before she began working at the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, she was a trial attorney trying murder cases in the homicide division at the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office, and before that a trial attorney at the Queens County, New York, District Attorney’s Office. In 2021 she became a member of The American College of Trial Lawyers, which is an organization 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. Membership is extended only by invitation, after careful investigation, to 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. She began her legal career in 1997, receiving her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School. She received her B.A. from Bucknell University in Spanish, and between college and law school she worked in Mexico City and built upon her fluency in Spanish. Throughout her adult life, she has volunteered her time teaching English to and assisting English Language Learners in the United States. She is also an active member and volunteer lector with the Catholic Church. She spends her free time with her husband and three children.