Judge Hope Tipton
Judge Hope Tipton was appointed to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on February 12, 2024, by Governor Wes Moore. Judge Tipton was sworn in as an Associate Judge on March 18, 2024, and presides over Part 6 for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Prior to her appointment as a judge, she served as a Family Magistrate with the Circuit Court for ten and a half years.
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Before her appointment as a Family Magistrate, she was the Executive Director of the Maryland Legal Services Program (MLSP) for the Department of Human Services (DHS), formerly the Department of Human Resources. MLSP ensures legal representation in Circuit Courts statewide for children in Child in Need of Assistance (CINA) and Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) cases, as well as for disabled adults in adult guardianship proceedings.
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Prior to joining DHS in January 2013, Judge Tipton was the founding Director of Project HEAL and an attorney with the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS). Originally, Project HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy, and Law) was a partnership with The Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Established in September 2003, Project HEAL offered on-site legal services and brief advice for patients at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, as well as consultations and advocacy training programs for health care professionals in clinical settings. Project HEAL is an award-winning program, receiving the Pro Bono Resource Center’s Herbert S. Garten Special Project Award in 2005 and the MVLS Special Partnership Award: Special Project of the Year in 2004. Project HEAL is Maryland’s only medical-legal partnership and now partners with the Kennedy Krieger Institute, where it continues to flourish and assist children with disabilities.
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Prior to forming Project HEAL, Judge Tipton was the Senior Mental Health Attorney with Disability Rights Maryland (formerly known as the Maryland Disability Law Center). At Disability Rights Maryland, Judge Tipton represented clients who were patients at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in the patient grievance system and in forced medication hearings, including administrative hearings and appeals to the Circuit Court.
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Judge Tipton has taught Lawyering II, formerly known as Written and Oral Advocacy, at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law since January 2008, as well as Family Law since August 2016. She has also taught the Judicial Internship Program seminar at the University of Baltimore School of Law and courses in the paralegal studies program at Baltimore City Community College. Since June 2006, Judge Tipton has hosted a student intern within her chambers from law schools each semester and during summer break. She enjoys mentoring her former students and interns as they continue their education and begin their legal careers.
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Judge Tipton is very active in the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA), Women’s Bar Association (WBA), Baltimore Carroll County Chapter of the WBA (BCCWBA), and the Bar Association of Baltimore City (BABC). She has held leadership positions in each, including serving on the MSBA Board of Governors, as President of the WBA, as President of the BCCWBA, and chairing numerous BABC committees. Judge Tipton received the UBSPI Robert M. Bell Award in 2016, the Daily Record Leadership in the Law Award in 2013, and was recognized as one of Maryland’s Leading Women for 2012 by the Daily Record. She also received the Pro Bono Award for Baltimore City/Baltimore County/Carroll County from the Women’s Bar Association and the BABC Presidential Award in 2011.
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Judge Tipton is the former Board President of Main Street Housing (MSH), whose mission is to develop quality, safe, affordable, and permanent housing for individuals with psychiatric disabilities. She was a member of the Board of Directors for MSH from 2006 to 2011 and was instrumental in helping MSH develop housing for individuals with psychiatric disabilities in Baltimore City.
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Judge Tipton was born and raised in Winchester, Kentucky. She is a graduate of George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester, Kentucky, where she was valedictorian of her class. She graduated cum laude from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Judge Tipton received her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law in Syracuse, New York. While in law school, Judge Tipton was a student-attorney in the Public Interest Law Firm Clinic, served on Moot Court, and won “Best Brief” for the Mackenzie-Lewis Appellate Advocacy Competition. She is a member in good standing of the Maryland State Bar and the Supreme Court of the United States Bar.
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Judge Tipton moved to Maryland to begin her legal career and has proudly called Baltimore City home for nearly 20 years. She is an avid fan of the Kentucky Wildcats and also cheers for the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles. Judge Tipton loves to bake—chocolate chip cookies, apple cake, and peanut butter pie are her specialties—and enjoys the arts, including Broadway musicals, performances at the Hippodrome, Lyric, and Everyman Theatre, visits to museums, and volunteering in the community through National Adoption Day, homeless shelters, and food drives.
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