Thomas M. Griffin, Esq.
Selected as a "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers magazine for the past two years, Tom specializes in complex immigration matters where individuals and families are in difficult situations.
Tom is unique among lawyers in Philadelphia in that he speaks Spanish and Haitian Creole. Taking a personal interest in his cases, Tom's clients know he will guide them through the maze of immigration and fight for their rights. A litigator at heart, Tom thrives in the courtroom, in appeals before the USCIS and the Board of Immigration Appeals, and in the federal courts. He takes on all matters including detention, criminal deportation, family immigration, business and employment visas, and asylum law.
Tom believes that being a great immigration lawyer includes understanding the places from which his clients come. He is a well-known human rights investigator and advocate, and has appeared before Congress as an expert on Haiti (Click here to read Tom's groundbreaking report on the 2004 Haiti coup d'etat.). Tom is on the Board of Directors of the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians , which provides job training to immigrants and connects them to employers. He gives free advice at the Center's monthly legal clinic. Tom is also the Legal Director of the Lamp for Haiti Foundation, whose centerpiece is a health and human rights clinic in the massive slum of Cite Soleil in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Tom frequently appears on Haitian and Spanish radio where he provides up-to-date immigration advice.
Before joining his law partners in Philadelphia, Tom was a white-collar crime and trusts and estates litigator at a prestigious Boston law firm. His additional volunteering in political asylum cases in Boston earned him the honor of Massachusetts pro bono "attorney of the year." Prior to becoming a lawyer, Tom earned a Masters Degree in Forensic Psychology, spent 10 years in the federal courts as a probation and parole officer, and was a schoolteacher in New York City.
