Tapping into her federal mafia trial experience, nationally recognized Philadelphia federal criminal defense and white collar crime attorney NiaLena Caravasos was invited to judge a national law school mock trial competition featuring sixteen of the top trial advocacy programs in the country and hosted by the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law. Sitting as a judge in a first degree murder case stemming from a mob hit, NiaLena listened to the prosecution and defense teams present opening and closing arguments as well as cross-examine cooperating witnesses and dueling experts and ultimately scored the students on their presentations and also gave them feedback on how to improve their advocacy skills in the future. NiaLena brought her own real-life experience to the table as a judge by the fact that early in her career, she was the youngest and only female attorney to defend a reputed organized crime figure in the federal RICO prosecution of United States v. Joseph Merlino. NiaLena’s client, alleged mafia soldier Frank Gambino, was acquitted 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 and is also being used to this day as a teaching tool by professors nationwide.
