Robert D. Klein
Time at Durham
Bob Klein studied at Durham University in 1971-72 during his "junior year abroad" while an undergraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S. 1973). Bob resided in Grey College under the auspices of a program sponsored by the Institute for European Studies. He has especially fond memories of the many kind and welcoming persons he had the opportunity to meet throughout the University and the city while serving as the Treasurer of Durham University's Rag Week. An avid singer-songwriter, some of Bob's spare time also was spent performing his "American" music in several of the colleges and town pubs. Because of the law courses he took during his year at Durham, Bob decided to pursue a career in law upon his return to the United States. He graduated from the Columbia University School of Law in 1976.
In the early 1990s, the University enlisted Bob's assistance in establishing the North American Foundation for the University of Durham, Inc. (NAFUD), now DunelmUSA, which is a Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization under the U. S. Internal Revenue Code. Bob has served as the founding President and a Director of DunelmUSA (NAFUD) ever since.
Professional Life
Bob is a name principal in the law firm of Wharton Levin Ehrmantraut & Klein, P.A., which is headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland. His law practice focuses on the defense of products liability, mass tort and commercial matters. He also is a trained mediator, with emphasis on the mediation of complex matters. His experience includes serving as national coordinating counsel in toxic tort, product defect and construction defect cases filed in nearly every State in the U.S.A., and abroad. In those roles, Bob successfully developed, implemented and coordinated the defense strategies of more than fifty law firms nationwide and in foreign jurisdictions.
First appointed in 1994 by the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, Bob continues to serve as a member of the Court's Standing Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure, which develops the procedural rules governing all aspects of litigation in the Maryland court system. Bob has published and lectured extensively on product liability law and civil practice in the United States and abroad. His several publications include a well-respected two-volume treatise on civil procedure and trial practice.
Social and Family Life
Bob and his wife, Trisha, honeymooned in Durham (when for the first time they had the pleasure of dining at Grey College's high table as the guest of legendary Master Sid Holgate). Married for thirty years, they are blessed with a daughter and identical twin sons who have grown into fine young adults.
Bob has a distinguished history of involvement with professional and civic organizations. In addition to his service as President and Director of DunelmUSA, Bob has served as an executive committee member of the Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., as President of Maryland Defense Counsel, Inc., and in numerous leadership positions within the Bar Association of Baltimore City. He also serves as a lay corporator and as the Director of the contemporary music group of his parish church.
A member of ASCAP, the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and an official "ambassador" for the Berklee College of Music on-line study program, Bob is a passionate songwriter and active musician. He looks forward to the day when he can hear one of his songs playing on the car radio!
Email: Robert.D.Klein@dunelm.org.uk