CJ Griffin, The Stein Public Interest Center Photo

CJ Griffin

Partner & Director of the Stein Public Interest Center

CJ Griffin serves as director of the Justice Gary S. Stein Public Interest Center at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden and is a partner at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden. CJ has has extensive experience representing media companies, nonprofit organizations, and citizens in Open Public Records Act (OPRA) litigation. Several of CJ’s cases have resulted in landmark decisions from the New Jersey Supreme Court and Appellate Division, including North Jersey Media Group Inc. v. Township of Lyndhurst, Scheeler v. Atlantic County Joint Municipal Insurance Fund, and Wronko v. New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

CJ has built a considerable appellate practice, appeared before the New Jersey Supreme Court nearly 20 times, and worked on nearly 60 public interest cases that resulted in reported decisions. CJ serves on the Amicus Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association and regularly appears before the appellate courts as amicus curiae on a variety of legal issues. In 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018, the New Jersey Law Journal named the firm New Jersey’s Appellate Litigation Department of the Year, including for its work in the OPRA field.

Before joining Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, CJ was a law clerk to the Honorable Ariel A. Rodriguez, presiding judge of the Appellate Division. During law school, CJ was a research editor for the Rutgers Law Review. Before law school, CJ worked in nonprofit management in several social justice organizations, including the National Housing Institute, Identity House of New York City, and Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice.

CJ is vice president of the Board of Trustees of the ACLU of New Jersey and performs significant pro bono work on a variety of civil rights issues. CJ has served as chair of the LGBT Rights Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association, member of the New Jersey Law Journal’s Young Lawyer Advisory Board, and member of the Essex County LGBTQ Advisory Board.

CJ has earned numerous accolades and awards, including being named a finalist for Attorney of the Year by the New Jersey Law Journal Professional Excellence Awards 2020, number 7 on Insider NJ's 2022 Insider Out 100 LGBTQ Power List, one of the “20 New Jerseyans to Watch in 2020” by the Star Ledger, a 2019 “Litigation Trailblazer” by the National Law Journal, number 12 on InsiderNJ's 2022 "Insider 100: Cannabis Power List," and as a finalist for the New Jersey Law Journal’s 2018 Attorney of the Year Award. CJ was awarded the 2022 Hon. Lawrence A. Whipple Memorial Award by the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey, the 2021 Partners in Justice Award by Partners for Women and Justice, and earned a Professional Achievement Award from the Young Lawyers Division of the New Jersey State Bar Association in 2017.

Clerkships

  • Judicial Law Clerk to Ariel A. Rodriguez, P.J.A.D. (2009-2010)

Bar Admissions

  • New Jersey
  • New York

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court

Education

B.S., SUNY-Empire State College, 2005

J.D., Rutgers University School of Law, 2009

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