Emma Van Ginneken - San Diego, CA

Emma Van Ginneken is an Associate Attorney at HHJ Trial Attorneys. She is a skilled and compassionate advocate who uses her skills to fight for the rights of clients facing catastrophic personal injuries and workplace discrimination.

Hailing from Ontario, Canada, Emma received her undergraduate degree in French, with honors, from Université Laurentienne. She later earned her Juris Doctor from California Western School, where she distinguished herself as an admission scholarship recipient, consistently securing academic merit scholarships, making the Dean’s Honor Roll, and achieving the Academic Achievement Award in various classes, including Advanced Copyright and Trademark Law. She also received the Public Service Honors Award in recognition of her commitment to community service, having dedicated over two hundred hours to volunteer legal work during her academic tenure.

Emma has always been passionate about advocating for clients in the courtroom. During her first year of law school, she competed in her law school’s Gafford Trial Competition and earned a Distinguished Advocate Award for her opening statement. Thereafter, she refined her trial skills while competing in various national trial competitions, including the Texas Young Lawyers Trial Competition, South Texas Mock Trial Competition, American Bar Association Arbitration Competition, and National Criminal Trial Advocacy Competition. Notably, Emma’s advocacy skills contributed to her team’s semi-finalist positions in the National Criminal Trial Advocacy Competition and the Texas Young Lawyers Trial Competition.

In addition to her studies, Emma worked as a law clerk at Hamparyan Personal Injury Lawyers, where she handled catastrophic personal injury matters. Prior to joining HHJ Trial Attorneys, Emma was a judicial extern for the Honorable Karen S. Crawford of the United States District Court for the Southern District where she gained invaluable insight into how judicial decisions are made and experience in various court proceedings.

In 2022, Emma joined HHJ Trial Attorneys as a law clerk. After completing law school, she re-joined as a post-bar law clerk and, following positive bar results, she was promoted to Associate Attorney.

In her free time, Emma enjoys playing beach volleyball with friends, hot yoga, and taking her toy pomeranian, Fynn, to dog-friendly beaches.