Cristina Rodriguez

Cristina Rodriguez joined Beasley Allen in 2013. She primarily focuses on pharmaceutical and medical device cases.

Her dedication and hard work has been recognized through several prestigious awards and fellowships, including the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Control and Prevention Fellowship, the American Association of Cancer Research Young Investigator Award, and the Alabama State Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program Student Award.  

Cristina is passionate about consumer health and safety litigation, and as a former scientist, she understands the drug development process for the U.S. market.  She has extensive experience analyzing pharmaceutical company documents and has helped play a key role in uncovering preventable consumer harms.  As part of a dedicated team of attorneys, Cristina is committed to holding these corporate actors accountable, ensuring that safety is never compromised for profit.

Leading a life of service has always been Cristina’s guiding principle. Her most memorable cases involve directly communicating with Spanish-speaking clients who might otherwise struggle to have a voice in their litigation. As the daughter of two immigrants, Cristina understands the importance of ensuring these clients can navigate the legal system and be heard. 

Cristina is married to Birmingham attorney Steve R. Burford, and they have a son named Carlos. They are active members of Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Hoover, Alabama. Cristina is deeply involved in her community, organizing events for the YMCA Strong Kids and Communities Campaign and teaching fitness classes. As a certified Group Fitness instructor, she leads classes for all ages, including children and seniors, and is passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles. Cristina also helps coordinate the Food For Our Journey program at her church, which provides over 144,000 meals annually to those in need. Her commitment to kindness and community service shapes her approach to life and law.

Education

Cristina graduated cum laude with an undergraduate degree in microbiology from Auburn University in 1993. The following year, she earned a master’s degree in public health, specializing in epidemiology, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She continued her studies at UAB, achieving a Ph.D. in nutrition sciences with a focus on chemoprevention. Following her doctoral studies, Cristina completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pathology at UAB. 

In 2008, Cristina earned her J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law and became a member of the Alabama State Bar. During law school, she gained valuable experience as a law clerk for Whatley, Drake & Kallas and completed an externship at the Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney’s Office. She also served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Karon Bowdre. 

Cristina’s research has been published in more than 20 peer-reviewed science journals such as the Journal of Clinical Cancer Research, Gyn Oncology, and Carcinogenesis. She is also a co-author of the Handbook of Immunohistochemistry and In Situ Hybridization of Human Carcinomas: Molecular Genetics, Gastrointestinal Carcinoma, and Ovarian Carcinoma. 

Licenses

• Alabama (2008)