February 11, 2020 For Immediate Release
Baltimore City – During tonight’s Baltimore City School Board meeting, Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises announced Joshua I. Civin as the new chief legal officer. Civin will begin his role effective March 2.
The chief legal officer oversees the Legal Office which provides legal advice, counsel, and litigation defense to the Board of School Commissioners, the CEO, and district employees.
“We are fortunate to have someone with such a distinguished career in civil rights law and deep commitment to equity and social justice working on behalf of City Schools. His experience and expertise handling the legal challenges faced by public school districts is significant,” stated Dr. Sonja Santelises. “I look forward to working with him and am confident he will have a positive impact on the team and City Schools.”
Civin is joining City Schools from Montgomery County Public Schools, where he has served as general counsel since 2014. Civin grew up in Baltimore, where he currently resides with his wife and two children who attend City Schools. He is also active in the Baltimore community, serving currently as vice president of the Board of Directors for the Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership and previously as president of the Board of Directors of the Citizens Planning & Housing Association.
Prior to working for Montgomery County Public Schools, Civin served as counsel to the director of litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., where he litigated matters involving educational equity, fair housing, and economic justice, including several cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Courts of Appeals. From 2006 to 2009, Civin was an attorney with Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells), where he represented public school districts in Maryland and throughout the country, as well as colleges and universities.
He graduated from Yale College, studied history at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, received a juris doctorate from Yale Law School, and served as a law clerk to Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court. Civin also has served as an elected member of the Board of Aldermen in New Haven, Conn.
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