J Dirk Schwenk

Mr. Schwenk graduated with Honors (cum laude) from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1997 and was the recipient of the William P. Cunningham Award as the student who demonstrated exceptional service and achievement while at the law school.  He has been in private practice focused on maritime and waterfront property issues since in Annapolis since 2000, and founded Baylaw, LLC in 2010. Mr. Schwenk is a member of the Maryland Bar and bar of the Federal Court for the District of Maryland. He is a leading practitioner and litigator in Maryland easements and property access; boundary disputes; partition and riparian rights.  

He is the author/editor of Preparation and of Tort Claims, Chapter 11 of the book Practice Manual for the Maryland Lawyer as well as many articles on real estate, riparian rights, vessel excise tax and other issues in admiralty and waterfront law.  He presented on Marina Liability at the International Marina Conference, 2005, and was the Outstanding Service Award winner from the Marine Trades Association of Maryland the same year.  He presented on the interplay between marina contracts and traditional tort theories for the Mid Atlantic Mariners Club in 2007.  He has presented for the Yacht Brokers Association of America in 2010 (sales and use tax), 2014 (buyers brokers), 2015 (licensure  across state lines), and presented for the Marine Trades Association of Maryland on employee retention policies in 2015. 

His current cases include waterfront property disputes and development, real estate litigation including boundaries and adverse possession, contracts of purchase and sale for superyachts and marinas, critical areas law, partition in real estate, and general litigation concerning community associations in Maryland.  He is currently a member of the Anne Arundel County Maritime Industry Advisory Board and was formerly on the Board of Directors of the Marine Trades Association of Maryland, the James C. Cawood Inn of Court, and is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Annapolis Maritime Society.  He previously served on the Building Board of Appeals for the City of Annapolis and the Maryland Boat Dealer Advisory Committee for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Mr. Schwenk is a past member of the Severn Sailing Association, past President of the Jet 14 Class Association, and was a 6 time Chesapeake High Point champion in that class.  In his remaining free time he is the father of two sons, husband to a fantastic wife, plays basketball and moonlights as a singer-songwriter.