OCEAN CITY — Courtland “Skip” Townsend, 72, of Ocean City, formerly of Montgomery County, died Saturday, April 7. He was a trial lawyer for 46 years, and practiced for 20 years in Worcester County. He was known for his courtroom skill and sense of humor. 

He attended Randolph Macon Military Academy, was in the Marine Corps Reserves for over 3 years until being medically discharged, got his law degree in 1966 at American University in Washington, D.C., and was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1970. He was a Panel member of the Attorney Grievance Commission from 1984 to 2012; won the Chair Award of the Year for the Criminal Law Section of the Montgomery County Bar Association; was Chair of the Maryland State Bar Ethics Committee for the last three years; has over 23 reported Appellate Opinions both State and Federal, and has been listed as a Preeminent Lawyer since 1993 with Martindale-Hubbell.  

He was a lecturer for the Montgomery County Police Academy on “Roles of Functions of the Defense Attorney”, and taught multi-state detective classes on homicide and sex crimes.  He was defense counsel for many famous criminal cases, and locally represented the Court Appointed Receiver of the Carousel Hotel through many years of litigation.

He is lovingly remembered by many friends and family, including his wife Kim; son, Dean and his wife, Jean; son, David, and his wife, Janet; son, Mitchell, and four grandchildren, Alexis, Mitchell, Nicole and Bradley. 

The family will hold a Celebration of Life Memorial Service in Skip’s honor in the near future, which will be announced. Arrangements are being handled by the Burbage Funeral Home in Berlin.