Current position: Deputy Public Defender, Orange County Public Defender’s Office

While attending USC Gould School of Law, Nina demonstrated an abiding passion and serious commitment to all things public interest law. In addition to working with PCJP for over two years, Nina served as the Co-President of the National Lawyers Guild USC Chapter and was a Pro Bono Chair of the Barbara Bice Public Interest Law Foundation. She also completed internships with the Los Angeles County Public Defender, the Bronx Defenders, and the Santa Clara County Public Defender.

While a student with PCJP, Nina won a hard-fought appeal in California’s First District Court of Appeal pertaining to juvenile culpability and the felony-murder law in California. Her hard work resulted not only in a positive outcome for her client but created a new legal precedent that will apply to incarcerated youth throughout the state. A recent article on the USC Gould School of Law website about PCJP’s leadership around juvenile justice reform features Nina and her outstanding work.

We are delighted to see Nina apply all the knowledge, experience, and talent she developed while a student at Gould to a career in indigent criminal defense. And Nina tells us she is grateful to be in a position “to fight for the people our society otherwise wants to neglect, incarcerate, or kill.”