‘Rising Star’ alumnus in Maryland law firm makes partner

Kevin Docherty ‘05, a lawyer based in Baltimore, Maryland, was selected for his fifth consecutive recognition on the Super Lawyers’ Maryland Rising Stars list. He was also recently named partner at Brown, Goldstein & Levy. 

Only 2.5 percent of the attorneys in Maryland are named to the Rising Stars list each year. Selection is an honor reserved for those lawyers 40 years old or younger, or in practice 10 years or less, who exhibit excellence in practice.

Docherty is a cum laude graduate of University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law and a magna cum laude graduate of EMU, where he also earned Cords of Distinction honors.

After graduating from the University of Maryland in 2012, Docherty clerked for the Honorable William M. Nickerson on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. In 2013, Docherty joined Brown Goldstein & Levy as an associate and developed a diverse practice representing individuals in civil rights litigation, employment disputes, and personal injury matters. 

He regularly represents the National Federation of the Blind, the oldest and largest organization of blind Americans, and its members, in civil rights cases across the country. In December 2020, Docherty successfully argued a case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on behalf of a NFB member who was seeking her attorney’s fees and litigation costs after winning a jury verdict that her employer was discriminating against her because she is blind. 

He also represents individuals with disabilities who are employed in sheltered workshops at subminimum wages. Since 2015, he has been part of a team of lawyers representing three individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are employed at a sheltered workshop in northwest Ohio, in a series of cases under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

In addition to his civil rights practice, Docherty counsels and represents businesses and business people in ownership disputes, breach of contract actions, and other commercial litigation. He also represents individuals in federal and state criminal prosecutions and investigations.

An active member of the legal community in Maryland, Docherty has served on the Board of Directors of the Maryland Chapter of the Federal Bar Association since 2015 and on the Board of Directors of the Homeless Persons Representation Project since 2019. 

Before attending law school, he taught middle school social studies in the Baltimore City Public School System. He resides in Baltimore City with his wife, Rachel Weaver Docherty ’03, and two children.

This article was originally published March 11, 2021.