Betty Grdina has dedicated her career to fighting for the rights of working people and unions, driven by a lifelong commitment to social justice. She is a forceful advocate , representing her clients with compassion and approaches tailored to their individual needs.
Betty Grdina has more than 35 years of experience as an active litigator in labor and employment matters for unions and employees in federal and state courts. Throughout her career, Ms. Grdina has successfully represented workers, unions, and nonprofit organizations in civil rights and labor law cases before courts and administrative agencies. From 1983 to 1995, she served as outside Regional Counsel for the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) in northern Ohio. Her career included successfully representing the union in strikes and litigation to retain health insurance for retired union members. From 1995 to 1999, Ms. Grdina held a series of positions with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington, D.C., ultimately becoming Deputy General Counsel, where she supervised the union's nationwide litigation practice. Since leaving the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Ms. Grdina has successfully represented the Service Employees International Union and other unions, as well as individual employees and nonprofit organizations in a variety of matters in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. She was Of Counsel with the law firm Heller, Huron, Chertkof, Lerner, Simon & Salzman, PLLC, before joining Mooney Green Saindon Murphy & Welch in 2010, where she was a Member until 2022. In 2022, Ms. Grdina joined James & Hoffman as a partner.
Ms. Grdina is a member of the bar in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Ohio. She is admitted to practice before numerous federal appellate and district courts. Ms. Grdina is a member of the AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association (MWELA), the Maryland Employment Lawyers Association (MELA), and the Maryland State Bar Association. In 2023 and 2024, Betty was named one of the 500 leading plaintiff employment and civil rights lawyers in the United States by Lawdragon.
Ms. Grdina was born in Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from Case Western Reserve University, magna cum laude, with a B.A. in political science and sociology. She received her J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law. Before she became an attorney, Ms. Grdina was Director of Community Development for the City of Cleveland in 1978-1979 under the leadership of then-Mayor Dennis Kucinich.
