Practice/Organization Description
NiaLena is a passionate and relentless advocate who doesn't take no for an answer. Through her boutique law practice, she gives personal, undivided, and often 'round-the-clock attention to all clients in an effort to provide the absolute best defense possible. As a strong believer in Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," NiaLena often chooses to travel "the road less traveled by" and, as a result, many of her courtroom successes as a criminal defense lawyer have come in matters that others considered hopeless.
NiaLena concentrates her law practice primarily in federal criminal defense and in very serious state criminal cases and has substantial experience in high-profile criminal cases and in extremely complicated federal criminal cases involving extensive electronic surveillance and wiretaps. NiaLena's federal criminal defense practice extends not only to the Eastern District of PA (including Philadelphia and its surrounding counties) and the Middle District of PA, but also to New Jersey (Camden, Trenton, Newark) and to multiple jurisdictions in the U.S.
Early in her career, NiaLena was the youngest and only female attorney to defend a reputed organized crime figure in the federal RICO prosecution of U.S. v. Joseph Merlino. Following a trial that lasted nearly five months, the jury acquitted her client, Frank Gambino, of attempted murder and racketeering charges, and her closing argument was subsequently selected among nationwide submissions and spotlighted as featured defense advocate by Center for Criminal Justice Advocacy in Houston.
She has since become lead counsel in numerous serious multi-defendant criminal cases and was recently the youngest and only female member of the defense trial team representing Senator Vincent Fumo, long regarded as the most powerful politician in Pennsylvania during his five-month high-profile trial in federal court. At trial, NiaLena was the co-author of an emergency motion that made headline news in various local and national forums, including The New York Times and ABC News.
Recently retained to represent a Washington D.C. senior executive of a Fortune 500 financial company and a New York Arab-American, both of whom are facing federal criminal charges, NiaLena has been described by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Philadelphia Daily News as a “deliberate,” “sincere,” “extremely thorough,” and “tireless advocate” with “courtroom poise” and by one of the most respected and recognized crime reporters in the country, George Anastasia, in The Last Gangster as “no-nonsense.” Her efforts to always leave no stone unturned were also acknowledged on the record at the end of May 2010 during her representation of the principal of a nationwide advertising agency in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania when the Honorable Paul S. Diamond stated, “You’ve put an enormous amount of work into this. I want you to know how much I appreciate all the work you’ve done. I certainly hope your client appreciates it as well.”
Honors and Awards
Honored among "Top 100 Trial Lawyers" in 2012 (membership obtained by special invitation from The National Trial Lawyers and extended only to those "Top 100" in every state who exemplify superior qualifications of leadership, reputation, influence, stature & profile as trial lawyers)
Recognized by Peers as “Pennsylvania Super Lawyer” in Criminal Defense; Philadelphia Magazine; Law & Politics Magazine; 2012
AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated; Martindale-Hubbell; 2012
Superb rating (10.0 out of 10) by Avvo.com in 2012
Honored as 2011 Global Awards Winner -- "PA Criminal Defense Attorney of the Year" by Corporate INTL Magazine
Recognized by Peers as “Pennsylvania Super Lawyer” in Criminal Defense; Philadelphia Magazine; Law & Politics Magazine; 2011
Selected as "Top Northeast Lawyer" by Avvo (to be feautured in Nov./Dec. 2011 edition of Arrive Magazine)
AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated; Martindale-Hubbell; 2011
Superb rating (10.0 out of 10) by Avvo.com in 2011
Recognized as a Preeminent Lawyer in America by Martindale-Hubbell®
Only law firm in Pennsylvania to win the Corporate INTL Magazine 2010 Legal Award in "Criminal Law"
Only law firm in Pennsylvania to win the Corporate INTL Magazine 2010 Legal Award in "White Collar Crime"
AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated; Martindale-Hubbell; 2010
Superb rating (10.0 out of 10) by Avvo.com in 2010
Recognized among the most elite women in the legal industry through her inclusion in the Martindale-Hubbell® Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers™
AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated; Martindale-Hubbell; 2009
Superb rating (10.0 out of 10) by Avvo.com in 2009
Profiled among "Influential Philadelphia Area Lawyers"; SuperLawyers, Philadelphia Magazine; 2009
Recognized by Peers as “Pennsylvania Super Lawyer” in Criminal Defense; Philadelphia Magazine; Law & Politics Magazine; 2009
AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated; Martindale-Hubbell; 2008
Recognized by Peers as "Pennsylvania Super Lawyer" in Criminal Defense; Philadelphia Magazine; Law & Politics Magazine; 2008
AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated; Martindale-Hubbell; 2007
AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated; Martindale-Hubbell; 2006
Recognized by Peers as "Pennsylvania Rising Star Super Lawyer" in Criminal Defense; Philadelphia Magazine; Law & Politics Magazine; 2006
AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated; Martindale-Hubbell; 2005
Recognized by Peers as "Pennsylvania Rising Star Super Lawyer" in Criminal Defense; Philadelphia Magazine; Law & Politics Magazine; 2005
AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated; Martindale-Hubbell; 2004
Spoltlight: Closing Argument in U.S. v. Merlino; Center For Criminal Justice Advocacy; 2003
AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated; Martindale-Hubbell; 2003
Who's Who In American Law
