Master Hope Tipton is a Family Division Master for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. She has been a Family Division Master since July 2013 and is the youngest member of the Circuit Court. Prior to her appointment as a Family Division Master, she was the Executive Director of the Maryland Legal Services Program (MLSP) for the Department of Human Resources (DHR). MLSP ensures legal representation in the Circuit Courts (state-wide) to children in Child In Need of Assistance (CINA) and Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) cases and disabled adults having adult guardianships pursued against them.
Prior to coming to DHR in January 2013, Master Tipton was the founding Director of Project HEAL and an attorney with Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS). Project HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy and Law) is a partnership with The Johns Hopkins Children’s Center (Hopkins Children’s). Established in September 2003, Project HEAL is Maryland’s only medical-legal partnership. Project HEAL offered on-site legal services and brief advice for patients at Hopkins Children’s as well as consultations and advocacy training programs for health care professionals in a clinical setting. Project HEAL is also an award-winning program, receiving the Pro Bono Resource Center: Herbert S. Garten Special Project Award in 2005 and MVLS Special Partnership Award: Special Project of the Year in 2004.
Master Tipton has an expertise in family, special education, housing, public benefits, social security, and estate planning law. She has taught Written and Oral Advocacy at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law since January 2008. She also teaches the Judicial Internship Program seminar at the University of Baltimore School of Law and has taught courses to students in the paralegal studies program at Baltimore City Community College. In addition, Master Tipton was a senior attorney at the Maryland Disability Law Center (MDLC) in the mental health unit from August 2000-September 2003.
Master Tipton is very active in the Bar Association for Baltimore City (BABC), Women’s Bar Association (WBA) and Baltimore Carroll County Chapter of the WBA (BCCWBA). She holds leadership positions in each of the bar associations and sits on numerous BABC committees. Master Tipton received 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.
Master Tipton is the former Board President for Main Street Housing (MSH). The mission of MSH 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 2006-2011 and instrumental in helping MSH develop housing for individuals with psychiatric disabilities in Baltimore City. Master Tipton, in her spare time, also gives back to her community through various services projects with Hopkins Children’s, University of Maryland and Baltimore Schools of Law, Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA), BABC, and local soup kitchens and homeless shelters.
Master Tipton received her Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law and is a member of the Maryland State Bar and Supreme Court of the United States Bar.