Mayor Gavin Buckley announced Friday the appointment of Linda Schuett as acting City Attorney. Schuett will take over for City Attorney Richard Melnick, who announced his departure on February 21 and will leave the City’s employ on March 8.
Schuett comes to the City from private practice. Between 1999 and 2006, she was Anne Arundel County Attorney where she served as legal counsel to the County Executive, County Council, and all departments and agencies of County government. Schuett also authored a comprehensive revision of county laws relating to zoning, subdivision and development, critical area, floodplain, grading and storm water management, and authored a comprehensive revision of the Anne Arundel County Code as a whole.
Schuett received her Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law. She holds a Master’s Degree in Spanish Linguistics from Pennsylvania State University. She is admitted to the Bar of both Maryland and District of Columbia. She is the chair of the Anne Arundel Affordable Housing Coalition and has served on the board of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce. She has been appointed to numerous local and regional boards and commissions.
She has twice been selected as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women (2001 and 2011). In 2004, Schuett received the Fannie Lou Hammer Humanitarian Award by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Awards Committee.
“I am grateful to Linda for being able to step into this role on such short notice,” Mayor Gavin Buckley said. “Her integrity, experience, knowledge, and management experience in a government law office environment makes her ideal for this interim position. That she is available to overlap with Richard for a period of time is a double bonus.”
Schuett begins her service to the City on March 1 as outside legal counsel and assumes the role of acting City Attorney on March 9, following Melnick’s departure. Schuett will serve as acting City Attorney during the search for a permanent replacement.
The City Attorney is the primary legal advisor and counselor to the Mayor. The City Attorney routinely attends meetings and briefings with the Mayor and provides legal counsel in the formation of legislative and administrative policy. The City Attorney oversees the Office of Law and is charged with the preparation of all charter amendments, ordinances, and resolutions introduced for consideration by the Annapolis City Council. In addition, the City Attorney is responsible for the management, prosecution and defense of all litigation involving the City.
