Michael Churchill practices law at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia where he served as Co-Chief Counsel from 1976 to 2006 and is now Of Counsel. In 1984 he was Acting General Counsel of the Philadelphia School District. He has represented community groups in the Philadelphia School Desegregation case, and state and federal litigation concerning Pennsylvania’s school funding system. Other litigation involved civil rights, foster children, special education and environmental justice.
Before joining the Law Center Mr. Churchill worked as a special assistant in the Department of Housing and Urban Development and as an associate and partner at a major Philadelphia law firm, with responsibilities in the fields of corporate law and municipal securities. He has been a member of educational advocacy organizations in Philadelphia, and has served on the Charlestown Township Planning Commission since 1984.
Active in civil rights matters since participating in the Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964, Mr. Churchill is a recipient of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Edwin D. Wolf Award and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission’s 50th Anniversary Award.
He has received the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Obermeyer Award for service to education and in 2008 received the Andrew Hamilton Lifetime Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association Public Interest Section. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.