MEET OUR TEAM

Eileen King has been an advocate for abuse survivors since 1995 when she began working with the Washington, DC-based American Coalition for Abuse Awareness which merged with the non-profit One Voice in 1997. One Voice/ACAA merged with Justice for Children in 2000. In 2012, Eileen became the founding director of Child Justice, Inc. Eileen is a passionate advocate on behalf of children who have been abused or neglected and/or have experienced domestic violence in cases where the alleged or convicted abuser is seeking custody or unsupervised access.

Eileen has been at the forefront of addressing these problems in the courts and has been creating change for these children through referrals to pro bono legal counsel to represent non-offending protective parents or guardians in District, Circuit or Appellate Court proceedings.

Child Justice also offers court watch, emotional support for non-offending parents, Amicus Curiae Brief support in selected appeals, works with local and national media, and often provides testimony before State Legislatures.

Michele Banks joined Child Justice, Inc. in December 2016 to provide administrative support in tracking and documenting program services, statistics and expenses on the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant from Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention of Maryland.

Michele has an extensive background of experience with grant administration and nonprofit management. She was the founding executive director of a nonprofit for adults with disabilities in Miami Florida. Michele also taught Special Education in Miami Florida and Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s in Industrial Technology from Florida International University. In 1991, as she was just about to complete her Master’s Degree in Special Education at Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida, Michele and her family had an incredible opportunity to move and live in Ferney-Voltaire, France and work in Geneva Switzerland. While in Geneva, she founded another nonprofit to provide after school computer programs for children with disabilities at the International School of Geneva. In 1995, upon returning to the States, Michele worked for a nonprofit in Silver Spring, Maryland as a program manager and grant administrator to help low-income families avoid eviction. Then until coming to Child Justice, Inc., she worked for another nonprofit serving adults with developmental disabilities as a staff trainer as well as providing administrative support in quality assurance and database administration.

Paul Griffin 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. 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 20 years and has vast experience trying cases in state and federal courts. He has successfully litigated and consulted on over a hundred cases involving allegations of domestic violence and child physical and sexual abuse. He has conducted training seminars for other attorneys in this specialized area and has advised litigators who were trying such cases. 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.

Prior to being appointed to his current position of 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.

From 2003 until 2015 he also served as a United States Special Master for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the case Peterson v. Islamic Republic of Iran (a mass-tort action brought by the survivors and family members of service members injured or killed in the October 1983 bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon) and in Owens v. Republic of Sudan (a mass-tort action brought by survivors and family members of personnel injured or killed in the 1998 Al Qaeda bombings of the United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania).

His responsibilities in those cases included presiding over hearings where testimony was given and evidence presented from survivors and family members, making determinations regarding monetary damages 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.

Alexandra Sandacz is the Deputy Legal Director for Child Justice, Inc., focusing her practice on child-custody cases involving domestic violence and child physical and sexual abuse.

Ms. Sandacz has significant experience handling the entire spectrum of the litigation process, from managing discovery, conducting investigations, drafting critical motions, preparing witnesses, and ultimately trying the cases to final judgment.

Ms. Sandacz received her Juris Doctor degree in 2014 from the Syracuse University College of Law, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Syracuse University Impunity Watch Law Journal, Chair of the Syracuse University College of Law Mentor Program, and Co-Chair of the Pro Bono Advisory Board. She received a baccalaureate degree in Sociology from Miami University in 2010.

Ms. Sandacz is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and Maryland.

A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, Nathan Grube began practicing law in December 2018. During and after law school, Nathan gained extensive experience in public interest work. Grube began his legal career working with administrative judges at the Baltimore City Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. There, he assisted with drafting opinions deciding whether government agencies violated federal civil rights laws. During his second-year summer he worked at the Public Justice Center in Baltimore, assisting clients and attorneys prepare class action cases against employers who violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The following semester, Nathan represented low-income clients at bail-review hearings in Baltimore City through the Access to Justice Clinic at the University of Maryland. After graduating, Nathan expanded his work with indigent clients at the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, helping clients seek expungements, avoid probate, and obtain custody of their children. Nathan began working with Child Justice in January 2019 and is devoted to helping disadvantaged clients obtain the legal representation they need.

Cynthia Cummings has more than 30 years of experience in paralegal and legal administrative work. This work has exposed her to many areas of the law, including export and regulatory law, corporate governance, litigation, tax, real estate, securities enforcement, and family law.

She joined the Child Justice, Inc. team in October 2018 and works extensively assisting our attorneys and clients. Cynthia is Child Justice's first point of contact, and provides support for each client throughout their entire case. She explains procedures, gathers client and case information, provides emotional support, and acts as a client liaison. In addition to client advocacy, Cynthia handles client intake, organizes case files, drafts legal documents, oversees document production, and maintains client case files.

Cynthia graduated from University of Maryland, College Park with a degree in Behavioral and Social Sciences, Honors Criminology, and a minor in Political Science. She has also studied at Bowie State University and Horticulture at USDA Graduate School. When she is not working, she enjoys raising orchids and her standard poodle, Tessa.