Karina Cardenas Orlando is a local Coachella Valley resident who attended the College of the Desert and then transferred to the University of Southern California, graduating in 1999 with a B.A. in Political Science and A.A. in Business Administration. Karina attended the California Southern Law School and graduated with her Juris Doctorate in May 2011. Shortly after graduating, she started her career with the Office of the Riverside County District Attorney. During her tenure, Karina prosecuted serious cases and completed over twenty jury trials. She left the Office in 2022 earning the Riverside County Crime Prevention Attorney of the Year in 2021.
Karina took this experience and went to work at a criminal defense and family law firm. Karina handled various types of criminal and family law cases. As a criminal defense attorney, she successfully completed two jury trials in seven months.
In August of 2023 Karina took on a new position with the Walter Clark Legal Group as head of the worker’s compensation division. In this new role, Karina has the honor and privilege of representing injured workers and guiding them through a very complicated system. Advocating for people is her passion and continues to strive to create new laws for the protection of injured workers.
Karina currently serves as a professor of criminal law at La Sierra University. In her spare time, Karina serves as President of the Shadow Hills High School Football Booster Club. Karina is a member of the Desert Bar Association and serves on the Board of Trustees. Karina has participated in the Warren Slaughter-Richard Roemer Inn of Court on both the outreach and educational teams. Karina also serves on the advisory board for John F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation. Lastly you can find Karina performing annually at the Bird Awards each year along with her colleagues in our local legal community.
In addition to her award in the District Attorney’s Office in 2021, Karina was the Recipient of the Desert Bar Association and Warren Slaughter-Richard Roemer Inn of Court Outstanding Young Lawyer Award in 2016.
