David Lapp
The People’s Counsel for the State of Maryland
David Lapp was appointed People’s Counsel in 2021 by Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh. David has 30 years of combined experience as a lawyer, policy analyst, and writer focusing on public policy and corporate accountability in important segments of the economy. His positions have required mastery of complicated legal issues and competing public policy goals. For the past 23 years as an attorney, his work has emphasized state and federal regulatory policy in the utility, tobacco, and healthcare industries.
Until his appointment as Acting People’s Counsel starting January 1, 2021, David worked from 2004-2020 as an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland (OAG). In his most recent position at OAG, David served as Deputy Counsel for the Maryland Department of Health, addressing healthcare industry regulation and providing advice and representation to the State Medicaid Program. Before that, as Chief Counsel of the OAG’s Tobacco Enforcement Unit, he was a leader in state and national efforts to enforce the national tobacco Master Settlement Agreement against the major cigarette manufacturers.
For more than 10 years prior to his work at OAG, David advocated on behalf of consumer and environmental interests in the field of utility regulation, first as a writer and policy analyst, and then as an attorney, primarily representing and advising state regulatory commissions and environmental and consumer advocates.
David graduated in 1998 from the University of Maryland School of Law, Order of Coif. He served as Articles Editor of the Maryland Law Review and received several academic awards. Following law school, he served as a law clerk on the Maryland Court of Appeals for Judge Howard Chasanow. He received his Bachelor of Arts with honors in 1989 from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana.