Paul Griffin is the Legal Director of Child Justice, Inc. He graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1997 and graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University in 1994 with a baccalaureate degree in Government.

Additionally, Mr. Griffin was selected as a Bloomberg Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he is studying for a Master of Public Health. His focus area is on Violence and its role in Child and Adolescent Health. Bloomberg Scholars are “future leaders who are making significant contributions to key public health issues within their communities and employment arenas” and are awarded full scholarships to earn an MPH degree from Johns Hopkins.

Prior to college Mr. Griffin proudly served four years in the United States Marine Corps, having enlisted at the age of 17.

Mr. Griffin is admitted to practice law in Maryland and the District of Columbia. He has been a litigator for over 25 years in both state and federal courts. He has successfully litigated and consulted on over a hundred cases involving allegations of domestic violence and/or child physical and sexual abuse. He has conducted training for other attorneys in this specialized area and has advised litigators who were trying such cases. In addition, he has given presentations before various bar organizations and child-abuse-prevention organizations on trauma, child abuse and domestic violence in family courts, and child-protective services’ role in protecting children from abuse.

Mr. Griffin has also testified in front of the Maryland General Assembly concerning proposed changes in Maryland’s laws on abuse and domestic violence. Similarly, he has testified in front of the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force about the role that child physical and sexual abuse play in leading children to become susceptible to human trafficking.

In October of 2016, Mr. Griffin was appointed by Maryland Governor Lawrence J. Hogan to serve as a member of the NeShante and Chloe Davis Domestic Violence Prevention Task Force. The Task Force’s mission was to study and make recommendations to the Governor and the Maryland General Assembly regarding domestic violence prevention strategies and policies.

In June 2019, Mr. Griffin was again appointed by Governor Hogan, this time to the Workgroup to Study Child Custody Proceedings Involving Child Abuse or Domestic Violence Allegations. The Workgroup was tasked with studying court processes when allegations of child abuse or domestic violence are made during child-custody proceedings, and making recommendations on how Maryland courts should incorporate the latest science into such proceedings. After meeting over an 18-month period, the Workgroup issued a 124-page report with 24 recommendations focused on better protecting children. Some of the Workgroup’s recommendations were enacted by the Maryland legislature in 2022, in a judicial-training law found at MD FL 9-101.3.

In 2022 Mr. Griffin was the recipient of The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children’s (APSAC) Outstanding Frontline Professional Award. This award “recognizes a front-line professional who demonstrates extraordinary dedication and skill in his or her direct care efforts on behalf of children and families.”

In 2023 he was a recipient of the Daily Record and Maryland State Bar Association’s 2023 Leaders in Law award. “Leaders in Law honorees demonstrate outstanding excellence and achievement in the legal profession. They work tirelessly to uphold high legal standards, and they play critical roles serving businesses, clients and individuals.”

Prior to his appointment as Legal Director, Mr. Griffin was a member of the Board of Directors of Child Justice for three-and-a-half years. In 2008 Mr. Griffin was a recipient of the Friend of Children Award from Child Justice’s predecessor organization, Justice for Children, and the 2015 recipient of Child Justice’s Heroes of Child Justice Award.

Since 2003, Mr. Griffin has served as a Special Master to United States District Court for the District of Columbia, working on multiple terrorism cases, such as the 1983 bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon and the 1998 Al Qaeda bombings of the United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. His responsibilities include presiding over hearings where testimony is given and evidence presented from survivors and family members, making determinations regarding monetary awards, and filing a Report and Recommendation with Court regarding such determinations.

Mr. Griffin was formerly an associate at the law firm of Spriggs & Hollingsworth and Counsel at the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers, both in Washington, D.C.