Marsha Levick is the co-founder and Chief Legal Officer of Juvenile Law Center, America’s first public interest law firm for children. Throughout her career, Marsha has advocated for youth involved in the justice and child welfare systems, and currently manages Juvenile Law Center’s national litigation docket. Marsha has participated in numerous landmark cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including Roper v. Simmons, Graham v. Florida, Miller v. Alabama, and Montgomery v. Louisiana, all cases striking extreme adult sentences for youth in the criminal justice system, and J.D.B. v North Carolina, requiring consideration of a suspect’s youth during police interrogations. Marsha also led Juvenile Law Center’s litigation arising out of Pennsylvania’s “Kids for Cash” scandal, resulting in the vacatur and expungement of nearly 2500 juvenile adjudications and substantial financial awards to the youth and their parents.
Marsha has received numerous awards for her work, including the Philadelphia Award (2015), the Arlen Specter Award (Inaugural Winner 2013) and the Philadelphia Inquirer Citizen of the Year Award (2009 - co-winner), as well as recognition for her work from the American Bar Association, American Association for Justice, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Philadelphia Bar Association, among others. In addition to teaching at Columbia Law School, Marsha is also an adjunct professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.