Key City of Boston legal counsel appointments announced

Mayor Michelle Wu today announced appointments to top positions in the City’s Law Department. Adam Cederbaum will serve as Corporation Counsel, and Henry C. Luthin will serve as Senior Counsel. Cederbaum has previously served the City as the Chief of Government Services, and Luthin as Corporation Counsel.

“As we work to build a Boston for everyone, we need a legal team with the skill, passion, and creativity to tackle our biggest challenges head on,” said Mayor Wu. “I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside Adam Cederbaum for a decade in City Hall, and I’m grateful to appoint this longtime friend and colleague, brilliant attorney, and fierce advocate for the people of Boston as our next Corporation Counsel. I am also delighted that Henry Luthin will continue to guide our Law Department at this critical moment with wisdom and experience built over a career of distinguished service to our city.”

Adam Cederbaum has practiced in the City of Boston Law Department for fifteen years, serving as the Chief of Government Services for the past six years. In that role, Adam led the City’s in-house counsel team on its work of advising the Mayor and City departments on municipal law and authority, negotiating contracts, and representing the City’s regulatory bodies. His work has included intergovernmental agreements about Greenway funding, various land transactions, contracts for COVID-19 housing and shelters, and representing the City in challenges to its short-term rental ordinance. Prior to that, he served as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Boston. Cedarbaum and Mayor Wu were both students of Senator Elizabeth Warren in law school.

“I am deeply honored by Mayor Wu’s appointment, and thankful for the opportunity to be a part of her team and to serve as the Corporation Counsel for the City of Boston,” said Cederbaum. “I will work to ensure transparency in our local government, and am looking forward to continuing to serve the City in a new way.”

Cedarbaum is a 1997 graduate of Harvard College and a 2004 graduate of Harvard Law School. After graduating law school, he clerked for The Honorable Mel L. Greenberg of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, and for The Honorable Judith A. Cowin of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Adam lives in the South End with his wife and two children.

“It’s been an honor to serve as Corporation Counsel and I am thrilled to help our new Mayor and new administration,” said Luthin. “Together we can ensure the law is upheld and our City staff can efficiently work to serve Boston’s residents.”

Before taking on the role of Senior Counsel, Luthin was appointed Corporation Counsel in March 2021. Previously, he had been First Assistant Corporation Counsel for Government Services. Luthin received the Shattuck Award from the Boston Municipal Research Bureau in 2019. He lives in Brighton with his wife Marianne Rea Luthin. They are the parents of three grown children.

The Law Department works for the City of Boston’s government, offering strategic legal advice to the Mayor’s Office, the Boston City Council, City Boards and Commissions, and all other City departments and agencies.