Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens named Annapolis author and attorney Linda M. Schuett county attorney yesterday after accepting the resignation of longtime political insider Phillip F. Scheibe.

"Mrs. Owens thinks Phil has done a great job and has the utmost respect for him," said her spokesman, Andy Carpenter, "yet she wanted to put her own stamp on the office of law."

Owens offered Schuett the post yesterday morning and Schuett said she accepted immediately. She will keep her post as vice chairwoman of the Maryland Court of Appeals' prestigious Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, which she has held since 1996.

"I am honored that she chose me to become county attorney," Schuett said. "For me the best thing is the sense that I can contribute to the future of the county and handle a wide variety of issues, from police and fire to constitutional issues about how the law is interpreted."

Schuett, 48, was an associate instructor of Spanish at Penn State before receiving her law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. In 1984, she co-wrote a book, "Maryland Rules Commentary."

She opened her own practice in Annapolis four years ago, specializing in civil litigation, or as she puts it, "business problem-solving." Before that she was a partner in two Baltimore firms: Frank, Bernstein, Conaway & Goldman and Blum, Yumkas, Mailman, Gutman & Denick.

"I love practicing law, and I'm sure I will miss it," said Schuett. "But I am looking forward to all the different types of things I will be doing."

The job pays between $62,000 and $92,000.

Schuett lives in Crownsville with her husband, Michael, and 9-year-old daughter, Alexa.