The filing is unlike traditional lawsuits in state or federal court. Under Maryland regulatory statutes, the state filed the charges within the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s Office, to then be put before an administrative law judge in the Office of Administrative Hearings in Hunt Valley. The administrative judge will determine facts and make legal conclusions in the case before kicking it back to the Consumer Protection Division, where personnel walled off from the initial investigation will adjudicate the findings and assess damages, if any, for victims.