“Little Did I Know That She Would Speak Into My Life Things I Didn’t Even Believe Of Myself And Convey To Me A Message Of Hope And Belief In Me And In Who I Can Become”
Criminal Client
“My Moral Compass”
Federal Criminal White Collar Client
Education
Boston University School of Law
Juris Doctor, May 1993
Honors:
Commencement Speaker to the Faculty
Commencement Award
(BNA Law Student Award)
American Jurisprudence Award
(Criminal Trial Practice)
Edward F. Hennessey Scholar
The Wharton School,
University of Pennsylvania
Bachelor of Science degree in Economics; May 1988
Graduated cum laude
Dual major in Multinational Management and Marketing
Court Admissions
- US Supreme Court
- 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals
- US District Court, Eastern District of PA
- Pennsylvania Bar
- Massachusetts Bar
Lectures and Writings
- Ambassador for The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and honored to serve on the Alumni Committee that interviews applicants who have applied for admission to Wharton.
- Frequent guest speaker for many years on white collar crime as well as ethics in Leadership programs of the Management Department at her alma mater, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Please visit the White Collar Crime section in the Case Successes page to read more about this.
- Honored to advise MBA Students at The Wharton School on how to prepare for and conduct Securities Negotiations. Please visit the Blog page to read more about this.
- Guest speaker on the practice of federal criminal defense and white collar crime at The Wharton School and the Lauder Institute for Management and International Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Co-author contributor to Dr. Robert Sadoff’s most recent book, The Evolution of Forensic Psychiatry: History, Current Developments, Future Directions. Published by Oxford University Press, The Evolution of Forensic Psychiatry is a unique and fascinating mix of historical beginnings, current developments, representative subspecialties of psychiatry, and several allied disciplines and their impact on forensic psychiatry. NiaLena is extremely honored to have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Sadoff, a world-renowned forensic psychiatrist, in writing this book and to share her experiences and thoughts through her chapter entitled “The Growing Intersection of Forensic Psychiatry and Federal Criminal Defense.”
- Guest lecturer at the Department of Psychiatry of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in a fellowship training program specifically geared toward providing forensic psychiatric fellows the opportunity to gain didactic knowledge and practical experience in Forensic Psychiatry in order to develop the skills necessary to practice the subspecialty in an ethical and scientific manner. Under the directorship of world-renowned forensic psychiatrist Robert L. Sadoff, M.D., the focus of the program is to provide fellows with training and education involving numerous issues, including criminal and correctional, so that they can learn about the legal regulations of a psychiatric practice and be able to provide expert psychiatric evaluation and treatment in both forensic and correctional settings. The focus of NiaLena’s teachings concerned the growing intersection between forensic psychiatry and federal criminal defense.
- Co-author of the book, Inside the Minds: Jury Selection in Criminal Cases, in which NiaLena focuses her writing on “The Artistic Science of Jury Selection and Trials.” The book was published by Aspatore Books, a Thomson Reuters business, which “exclusively publishes C-Level executives and partners from the world’s most respected companies and law firms, and each publication provides professionals of all levels with proven business and legal intelligence from industry insiders — direct and unfiltered insight from those who know it best.”
- Frequently called upon by The Legal Intelligencer, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and other news organizations to offer unique commentary on current legal issues.
- Guest speaker and co-panelist at the University of Pennsylvania along with David Rudovsky, law professor as well as one of the nation’s leading civil rights/criminal defense attorneys, in an effort to educate university students and members of the National Youth Rights Association regarding their civil rights as well as suggesting the most appropriate and beneficial ways to exercise those rights.
- Lecturer in multiple CLE seminars at Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) Criminal Law Symposium.
- Co-author with her former law partner, F. Emmett Fitzpatrick, of an article entitled “Ineffective Assistance of Counsel,” which was published in The Philadelphia Lawyer, PACDL’s The Forum, and The Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest.
Professional Associations
- Federal Criminal Bar, Eastern District of PA
- Association Of Federal Defense Attorneys (AFDA)
- Philadelphia Bar Association, Criminal Justice Section
- Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL)
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)
- The National Trial Lawyers (membership by invitation only)
- The National Trial Lawyers, Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association (membership by invitation only)
- The College of Physicians of Philadelphia; Section on Medicine, Ethics & the Law (membership by invitation only)
- American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys (membership by invitation only)
- Women’s White Collar Defense Association
- Wharton Alumni Club of Philadelphia
- Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America (LCA) (fellowship by invitation only)