Benjamin R. Civiletti
Related Practices
Experience
Government Experience
- Attorney General of the United States, United States Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General
Representative Matters
Ben successfully argued again in the Court of Appeals of Maryland to reverse excessive millions in punitive damages and the court entered judgment for the defendant. He was co-independent counsel, appointed by regulators, in the investigation of the derivative business of a major Wall Street financial institution. Ben represented a corporate client in the successful defense of multi-million dollar claims of tortious interference with contract. For another client, he successfully settled multiple intentional tort claims after a lengthy trial on motions to suppress. And he again was successful in settling claims from a domestic air crash in which he represented plaintiffs against a major airline.
Insights
Credentials
Education
- L.L.B. (J.D.) University of Maryland School of Law 1961
- A.B. Johns Hopkins University 1957
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
Clerk Experience
- Honorable W. Calvin Chesnut U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland 1961 1962
Professional Memberships and Activities
American Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
Maryland State Bar Association
District of Columbia Bar Association
Bar Association of Baltimore City
Recognition
Awards and honors include: Omicron Delta Kappa; Order of the Coif, Herbert H. Lehman Ethics Award (American Jewish Theological Seminary); Distinguished Alumnus Award, Johns Hopkins Alumni Association; Knight-Commander in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic; the 1997 Baltimore Urban League's Equal Justice Award; the 2005 American Judicature Society Justice Award and the William J. Brennan, Jr. Award presented by the National Trial Advocacy College at the University of Virginia School of Law.
In 2004, Ben was honored for his leadership in public service and law by the establishment of a scholarship in his name at the University of Maryland School of Law. He has been named "Best Lawyer in America" in three fields – commercial litigation, corporate governance and compliance law, and white collar crime criminal defense, as well as being named to the 2004 International Who's Who of Corporate Governance Lawyers.
He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, American Law Institute and American College of Trial Lawyers and founding Chair of Maryland Legal Services Corp. Ben is past chair, American Bar Association Litigation Section, chair of the Task Force on an International Criminal Court, a past member of the House of Delegates, Member of the ABA Commission on the American Jury, and the ABA representative to the United Nations.
His honorary degrees are: Doctors of Law from the University of Baltimore, New York Law School, St. John's College, Tulane and Notre Dame Universities, and the University of Maryland; and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Towson State University.
Ben is AV® Peer-Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Listed for over 20 years in The Best Lawyers in America, (Woodward/White, Inc) for Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Corporate Governance and Compliance Law, and Criminal Defense: White Collar.
Listed in Who's Who Legal, Corporate Governance and Commercial Litigation, 2011.
Selected for inclusion in Maryland Super Lawyers (2008 - 2012).
Recognized in Super Lawyers Business Edition, Business Litigation, Baltimore, 2013.
Recognized in 2007 and 2009 by Washingtonian magazine as one of "Washington’s Top Lawyers."
American Lawyer's Lifetime Achievement Award 2009.