Hon. Ricardo D. Zwaig is an associate judge for the Howard County District Court (District 10) in Maryland. He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Martin O’Malley in 2010, becoming the first Hispanic-American to serve on the District Court in Howard County.
During his judicial tenure, Zwaig has served as presiding judge of the Adult Drug Court and DUI Court since 2012. He has also sat on the Judicial Council’s Court Operations Committee and Specialty Courts and Dockets Committee.
Prior to joining the bench, he was a partner at Zwaig & Zwaig, P.A. for nine years (2001 to 2010). Before that, he was the former acting chief and deputy chief of the Training Branch in the Defender Services Division of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (2000 to 2001).
Over the course of his legal career, Zwaig also spent time as an assistant federal public defender with the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Maryland (1991 to 2000) and an assistant public defender in Baltimore City (1983 to 1984 and 1990 to 1991) and Montgomery County (1984 to 1990).
He received a B.S. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 1977. Zwaig went on to complete a J.D. at the University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law in 1982.
He was admitted to practice in Maryland (1983), the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (1983), and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1991).
His memberships have included the Montgomery County Inns of Court, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Maryland State Bar Association, the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys’ Association (Board of Directors), the Federal Bar Association (Board of Governors), the Howard County Bar Association, the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association, the Columbia Foundation (Board of Trustees), and the Howard County Bar Foundation (Fellow).
Zwaig was a coach, manager, and volunteer for baseball and softball with the Howard County Youth Programs.
He received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association and the Outstanding Alumni of the Year from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Zwaig was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
