Caitlyn Burnitis

Caitlyn Burnitis is an Associate Attorney Advisor for AEquitas. Caitlyn has spent her entire legal career directly representing and advocating for survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence in civil and criminal court. Before joining AEquitas, she served as a Domestic Violence and Family Law Staff Attorney at the Safe Sisters Circle, a non-profit organization based in D.C. that provides culturally competent free legal services to black female survivors of domestic violence. Before that, Caitlyn was with the Amara Legal Center as Lead Maryland Attorney, where she represented survivors of sex trafficking and anyone with a history of involvement in the commercial sex industry. As part of this role, she testified before the Maryland State Senate on bills affecting sex trafficking survivors. She has also served as a panelist in a briefing before U.S. Congressional Staffers regarding federal legislation affecting trafficking survivors. Caitlyn has also held internships at two different U.S. Attorney’s Offices, including in the Special Prosecutions Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida, which focused on cases involving violent crimes such as human trafficking and organized crime.

Caitlyn graduated with her J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 2020. Upon admission to law school, she was selected as a Miami Public Interest Scholar, a competitive scholarship program for students with a demonstrated commitment to public service and social justice. Caitlyn was a member of the Miami Law Human Rights Clinic’s COURAGE in Policing Project, which focused on connecting and improving the relationship between law enforcement, advocates for domestic violence survivors, and domestic violence survivors. As part of this project, Caitlyn co-authored an intervention submitted before the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Toradze v. Georgia, a case involving an instance of law enforcement-perpetuated domestic violence. She also authored and published her own law review article entitled, “Facing the Future with FOSTA: Examining the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017,” which provided a policy analysis of the controversial anti-trafficking act as well as its unintended consequences on prosecutors, law enforcement, and sex workers. In addition, Caitlyn was extremely involved in promoting public interest efforts on campus. She founded and served as President of the Miami Law Alliance Against Human Trafficking, a student organization aimed at educating students, faculty, and community members about human trafficking, and organized and led a half-day symposium regarding human trafficking and the Super Bowl. She also served as Vice-President of the Miami Law ACLU chapter, Fundraising Chair of the Public Interest Leadership Board, and Social Media Chair of the Miami Law Race & Social Justice Law Review.

Caitlyn is a native of Florida who has transplanted to Washington, D.C., in order to enjoy the change of seasons and lack of hurricanes. She graduated with her B.S. in Telecommunications from the University of Florida, with a minor in Non-Profit Organizational Leadership (Go Gators!). She proudly considers herself a Disney adult, making frequent trips to Disney World with her many pairs of Minnie ears in tow. When she’s not working, Caitlyn can be found swing dancing, listening to Broadway musical cast recordings, planning her next Renaissance Faire or Comic-Con trip, or fangirling over the latest Marvel film.