Associate Attorney
Caitlin Watt Goldstick is an associate attorney and mental health nurse. She has spent the last 15 years serving the community in a legal and nursing capacity. She has extensive experience in the practice, serving the most vulnerable in the community, and a passion for assisting clients in navigating the legal landscape.
After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Language and Literature with a Minor in Political Science, Caitlin entered law school at American University’s Washington College of Law. After interning with the AFL-CIO and UAW, she transferred to Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law where she received her JD. As a law student, Caitlin began working for the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at OSU where she was employed as a full-time research attorney following her passage of the Ohio Bar Exam.
Her focus at Kirwan was on how systems and structures in American society often produce racialized outcomes. She believes in the need for racially-conscious application of the law. Following her passage of the Michigan bar, Caitlin returned to the Ann Arbor area where she joined a small firm, practicing criminal defense and family law.
In 2011, Caitlin sought to supplement her legal knowledge with a degree in nursing. She entered the University of Michigan’s School of Nursing and graduated with a BSN. Caitlin spent the next years working for Medicaid-eligible patients, first as a nursing case manager for the elderly and disabled, and then as a Mental Health Nurse for Community Mental Health. She assisted a variety of clients with health and wellness needs to receive appropriate services in the community. She was able to help her clients achieve their mental and physical health goals by harnessing the resources of the community and drawing upon behavioral and motivational tools to encourage clients to improve their outcomes and live lives with as much freedom and dignity as possible.
The experience of navigating the municipal, charitable, and federal resources, as well as the enjoyment she got from explaining complex systems, concisely motivated her to move forward once again with the law. She passed the Michigan Bar a second time and was again sworn in as a Michigan Attorney. She has retained a strong interest in both her prior work with the mentally ill and aging populations, as well as her work as a family and criminal law attorney. It is her sincere hope that her experience as a nurse and as an attorney can be employed to serve her clients well at Collis, Griffor, and Hendra.
Education
- B.S.N. University of Michigan (2013)
- J.D. Ohio State University (2009)
- B.A. University of Michigan (2005)
Publications
- John A. Powell and Caitlin Watt, Corporate Prerogative, Race, and Identity Under the Fourteenth Amendment, 32 Cardozo Law Review 885 (January 2011).
- John A. Powell and Caitlin Watt, Negotiating the New Racial and Political Environment, 11 Journal of Law and Society 31 (Fall/Winter 2011).
- Menendian, Caitlin Watt, et. al., Affirmative Action in Ohio: A Resource for Policymakers and Advocates, (September 2010).
- Reece, Rogers, Martin, Menendian, and Caitlin Watt, Targeted Universalism and the Jobs Bill: Helping Communities in Crisis Through Targeted Investments (March 2010)
- Martin and Caitlin Watt, The Subprime Crisis: A Comprehensive Analysis from a Systems Thinking Perspective (August 2008).
Presentations
- Fair Housing for Community Land Trusts, talk, and presentation, National Community Land Trust Network Annual Conference, Albuquerque, NM (Provided an overview of federal fair housing law, with a focus on compliance with fair housing requirements under the HOME and CDBG programs. With a particular focus on affirmative marketing practices, resident selection/preference criteria, and housing for persons with disabilities.) (Fall 2010)
- Corporate Prerogative and Civil Rights, guest lecture for John A. Powell, Advanced Civil Rights, Moritz College of Law, OSU. (9/14/2010)
- Citizens United v. FEC: A Panel Discussion on Corporate Personhood, moderator, A panel discussion that examined both the legal and social implications of the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which extended the meaning of free political speech to corporate expenditures in federal elections and thus granted broad First Amendment rights to corporations under the corporate personhood doctrine. (Spring 2010)
- Civil Liberty and Human Rights in the Obama Era, brown bag lecture, Kirwan Institute Brown Bag Series. (3/10/2010).
- Corporate Personhood and Corporate Free Speech, guest lecture for John A. Powell, Civil Rights, Moritz College of Law, OSU. (2/10/10)
