Marylin Batista 

Marylin Batista is a Florida Bar Board Certified attorney in Education Law who serves as Senior Counsel for Florida Virtual School (FLVS). Prior to joining FLVS, she served as General Counsel for Broward County Public Schools, the sixth largest school district in the nation. In that role, she oversaw the legal affairs across all practice areas, with particular emphasis on civil rights litigation, personnel matters, and appeals in exceptional student education cases.

Batista’s career reflects a record of pioneering leadership in education law. She served as founding Editor-in-Chief for the first online journal of the Florida Bar, was among the first attorneys to receive Florida Bar Board Certification in Education Law, and was appointed by the President of the Florida Bar as the inaugural Chair of the Education Law Certification Committee, helping to establish certification standards for this emerging legal specialty. Batista’s leadership extended nationally, as she served on the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Specialization. She currently serves on the Florida Bar's Education Law Committee, where she has served since its inception, and was recently appointed to a term ending June 2027.

She has been recognized by her peers as AV rated for over two decades, the highest rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and was selected as a top government lawyer in Florida Trend’s Legal Elite for seven years. In 2021, she was recognized by Latino American Who’s Who. In 2022, Batista was recognized by the Florida Bar for her dedicated service to the mission of Board Certification to improve the practice of law and delivery of legal services to the public through the enhancement of technical skills and substantial competence under the highest standards of professionalism. In 2023, she was recognized by her peers for her outstanding service and leadership as the President of the Florida School Board Attorneys Association (FSBAA). In 2024, the FSBAA awarded Batista with the inaugural Edward J. Marko Outstanding Community Service and Professionalism Award. In recognition of her service, Broward County Public Schools honored her with a formal Board Resolution naming the legal department's conference room in her honor.

Outside her legal practice, Batista is active in her church, serves as a Sunday school teacher, and is most proud of being the mother of a wonderful teenager.