The Hon. George McQuade Lipman (Ret.) served as an associate judge for the Baltimore City District Court in Maryland. Lipman was appointed to the bench by former Governor Parris Glendening on December 15, 1998. He retired on January 31, 2018.
Lipman held assignments as the Presiding Judge for the Mental Health Court (2008 to 2018). He also served on the Judicial Education Committee for the District Court of Maryland as well as the Mental Health, Alcoholism & Addiction Committee and the Mental Health Oversight Committee for the Maryland Judicial Conference.
Prior to his appointment, Lipman worked for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. He started as an assistant public defender in 1978, quickly rising through the ranks to become its Chief Attorney for the Mental Health Division in 1979.
Lipman earned a bachelor’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University in 1971. He then completed a J.D. at the University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law in 1976.
After graduating from law school, Lipman began his legal career as a law clerk to the Hon. Robert L. Karwacki of the Baltimore City Circuit Court. He served in that capacity until 1978, at which time he joined the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. During his tenure there, he sat on the Governor’s Task Force to Review the Defense of Insanity (1983 to 1984).
His memberships have included the Federal Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, the Maryland State Bar Association, and the Baltimore City Bar Association. He also sat on the Board of Directors of the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association.
He is a recipient of the Presidential Award from the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association (1993, 1998), the Robert C. Heeney Award from the Criminal Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association (2013), and the Legal Excellence Award for the Advancement of the Rights of the Disadvantaged from the Maryland Bar Foundation (2018).
Lipman was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended Central Catholic High School.