Christina J.
Board Certified Employment Lawyer | Civil Rights Litigator | Federal Court Nationwide
I am a Texas Board Certified specialist in Labor and Employment Law (since 2002) with nearly three decades of experience across private practice, Big Law, in-house counsel, and national civil rights litigation.
I currently own and manage Jump Start Legal Justice Center, where I lead nationwide litigation for nonprofit domestic entities, defending free speech and constitutional rights, litigating Title VI and Title VII claims for professors, and representing individuals in No Fly list and watchlist challenges.
For nearly a decade, I served as Civil Litigation Department Head at the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America (now MLFA), managing a nationwide team of up to 12 attorneys, paralegals, and interns. My docket included religious freedom and religious discrimination cases for Muslim, Jewish, and Native American clients; birthright citizenship challenges; and inmate rights litigation for meal and prayer accommodations.
My employment law background includes senior roles at Littler Mendelson, Jackson Walker, Akin Gump, and Jackson Lewis, as well as serving as the Texas state expert for Thomson Reuters Practical Law. I have counseled corporations on wage/hour compliance, non-compete agreements, FMLA, discrimination, retaliation, and workplace investigations. I have first-chaired federal court jury trials and handled appeals across the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits.
I also hold a Mediation Certification from the University of Houston and have served as an Associate Hearing Officer for the City of Dallas. I am a multiple-year Texas Super Lawyer (through 2026), Fellow of the Texas Bar College, and Fellow of the American Bar Association.
I draft and review employment agreements, severance agreements, non-compete agreements, employee handbooks, independent contractor agreements, and settlement agreements. I also advise on nonprofit compliance, religious accommodations, and constitutional claims.
Bar admissions: Texas (1996), U.S. Supreme Court, multiple Circuit Courts of Appeal, and federal district courts in Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, and Illinois (General Bar and Trial Bar).