Title: Attorney
Company: Griffin Legal Defense
Location: Stockton, California, United States
Catrina Griffin, Esq., MDR, attorney at Griffin Legal Defense, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Lawyers for dedication, achievements, and leadership in legal services.
With over a decade and a half of experience, Ms. Griffin has built a successful career in legal services, specializing in juvenile dependency. She currently serves as an attorney at law at Griffin Legal Defense, a role she has held since 2023. In this capacity, she represents children, parents, guardians, and non-minor dependents throughout their dependency cases and is appointed as guardian ad litem when needed for clients who lack the intellectual capacity to fully understand court proceedings. Her prior experience includes serving as director of strategic collaboration at Delta Dental Plans Association from 2021 to 2022 and as a legislative and policy analyst and legal analyst at Delta Dental of California from 2020 to 2021. She has also held roles as contract manager in supply chain and contract specialist at Sutter Health from 2019 to 2020, patient and family advocate at Sutter Health since 2019, legal secretary at Sutter Health from 2017 to 2019, and paralegal from 2009 to 2017.
Ms. Griffin also dedicates her time to as a volunteer with Just for Kids and participating in mock trials. She has served on the board of directors for Thomas Toy Community Center Inc. since 2023, Creative Child Care Inc. since 2022, Edgewood Center for Children and Families since 2021, and board membership with Wide Horizon Inc. from 2023 to 2024. She has been an active member of AmeriCorps since 2008, an official member of Lawyers of Distinction since 2023, and belongs to the San Joaquin County Bar Association, American Inns of Court, and the California Women Lawyers Association. In light of her impressive undertakings, she was nominated for the Outstanding New Lawyer Award in 2023. Laying a solid educational foundation, she earned an Associate of Arts in liberal arts from Humphreys University in 2008, a Bachelor of Arts in paralegal studies from the same institution in 2009, a Juris Doctor from the Lawrence Drivon School of Law in 2016, a master’s degree in dispute resolution from Pepperdine Caruso Law in 2021, and a master’s degree in advanced legal research from Humphreys University in 2023. She is admitted to the California State Bar, certified as a paralegal, and holds additional certifications in management in clinical excellence and privacy and information security.
Reflecting on her path, Ms. Griffin played a pivotal role during her time as contract manager at Sutter Health, where she was instrumental in the rapid onboarding of telemedicine services, achieving a national record for implementation speed and positioning Sutter Health as the first organization to successfully adopt telemedicine. Additionally, she was a key team member at the Sutter Health Summit on Management of Clinical Excellence, where she contributed to addressing high surgical site infection rates. Noticing procedural complexities, particularly confusing instructions involving chlorhexidine, Ms. Griffin led a complete overhaul of educational materials for nurses and patients. She rewrote the literature, redesigned materials, and introduced a clear, user-friendly pictograph to simplify instructions, resulting in a 10% reduction in surgical site infections. Her exceptional contributions earned her recognition from the CEO, along with a Certificate for Management in Clinical Excellence.
Ms. Griffin’s advocacy is rooted in her personal experiences growing up in group and foster homes and aging out of the system before California’s extended foster care program was available. Inspired by these experiences, she began her career as a paralegal and later pursued law school, even while managing a diagnosis of aggressive fibromatosis, a rare tumor condition. She has contributed to international tumor research with institutions like Harvard, Stanford, and Mayo Clinic, undergoing 46 surgeries and numerous treatments, which deepened her insights into patient advocacy and highlighted gaps in health care, particularly for women. She attributes her success to her extraordinary resilience and is passionate about dedicating herself fully to dependency work, despite it being a less lucrative path, with the goal of strengthening the community of dependency attorneys.
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