Steve Kelly is a Partner at Sanford Heisler Sharp and Co-Chair of the firm’s Criminal/Sexual Violence Practice Group.

Steve has been recognized in the legal community for his leadership in advocating for child and adult victims of sexual and other types of violence by the National Crime Victim Law Institute, the American Bar Association, the Maryland Governor, the Network for Victim Recovery Center (NVRDC), the Baltimore Child Abuse Center and the Maryland Crime Victim’s Resource Center and has been recognized as a Superlawyer® since 2003.

At Sanford Heisler Sharp, Steve’s practice has focused on representing individuals and classes of victims of violence against individuals and classes responsible for the criminal act. Steve’s practice grew out of personal tragedy. Steve has advocated for victims of violence since his sister was raped and murdered when he was 14 years old. He has an unwavering commitment to finding justice for survivors of sexual and other types of violence. Steve’s representations have included:

• Achieving a landmark Title IX settlement against Dartmouth College on behalf of students who were sexually assaulted and/or harassed by a group of professors, culminating in a $14 million settlement and significant programmatic relief
• Litigating on behalf of a class of women who were illicitly photographed by Rabbi Barry Freundel, resulting in a $14.25 million settlement against Kesher Israel Synagogue
• Reaching a confidential settlement on behalf of Chessy Prout, a former student and resident at the prestigious St. Paul’s (boarding) School, who was raped by a fellow student as part of a sex competition of which the school was aware
• Litigating on behalf of a group of families against the Glen Mar Early Learning Center, whose staff member sexually molested students under the age of five
• Achieving a confidential settlement on behalf of a student at a prestigious school who was sexually abused by the school’s dean of students
• Negotiating to obtain a substantial settlement for a victim who was sexually abused while incarcerated in a juvenile facility
• Negotiating a confidential settlement on behalf of a middle school student who was sexually abused by her teacher at a DC Charter School
• Successfully arguing in the Connecticut Supreme Court on behalf of a missing (and presumed murdered) victim’s family who was sued by the criminal suspect, Madeline Gleason, for posting missing person’s posters. The court overturned the trial court’s verdict against the family on First Amendment Grounds in a case with great significance to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other groups devoted to finding missing persons
• Bringing the first mass action under the federal child pornography statute, Masha’s law, against more than 150 individuals who possessed, viewed, and distributed images of two very young girls being sexually abused by adult men
• Successfully litigating on behalf of survivors in criminal cases across the country including cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the Maryland Court of Appeals

Steve received his law degree cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center and his undergraduate degree magna cum laude from American University. During law school, Steve lobbied Congress on behalf of several national crime victim organizations for what became the Crime Victim Rights Act of 2004. Steve worked closely with Congressional staff, met regularly with members of Congress, and testified in numerous Congressional hearings. At Georgetown, Steve served on the Journal of Law and Public Policy, was recognized for his advocacy on behalf of victims by the Domestic Violence Clinic. During college, Steve was a member of highly competitive Debate Team and part of the University Honors program. He was also awarded the University Award for Service to the University Community and received University Honors. Steve was recognized with the Maryland Governor’s Citation for Service and the Maryland Crime Victim Resource Center’s Champion for Crime Victims Award and was selected as one of two American representatives to the World University Student’s Peace Summit in Kyoto, Japan.

A member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bars, Steve has authored/co-authored articles that appear in the American Bar Association publications on representing child-victims and in the American Bar Association’s guide on prosecutorial discretion, the U.S. Justice Department Guidelines for representing victims of crime, the U.S. Military’s training protocols for special victim counsel, and publications of the National Crime Victim Bar Association, the National Institute of Justice and numerous state and local organizations. Steve has presented at state and national conferences on crime victim rights in the criminal process, civil claims arising out of criminal acts, representing child-victims, criminal restitution, trauma-informed advocacy, and insurance coverage issues common in criminal/sexual violence cases.

Steve serves as the Chair of the Maryland State Board of Victim Services (appointed by Maryland Governor), is a member of the Conference of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the Advisory Board for the National Crime Victim Law Institute, the American Bar Association Victim Committee, the National Alliance for Crime Victim Rights Attorneys (“NAVRA”), the National Crime Victim Bar Association, the Maryland Association of Justice, the Federal Bar Association and the Maryland Bar Association.

Before joining Sanford Heisler Sharp, Steve completed a clerkship for Judge Richard D. Bennett of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Prior to his clerkship, Steve was an associate at DLA Piper, where he litigated complex commercial disputes in federal courts throughout the country. Following his clerkship, Steve was an associate at Miles & Stockbridge, P.C., where he gained significant trial and appellate experience litigating complex commercial disputes, product liability cases, and anti-trust matters in addition to significant pro bono representation of victims.

When Steve is not lawyering, he enjoys spending time with his three children and two dogs in addition to hiking, fishing, and kayaking and doing everything possible to improve and promote his hometown of Baltimore.