Nina C. Spizer

Overview

Clients rely on Nina Spizer to guide them through high-stakes criminal defense and investigations matters where legal, reputational and operational risk intersect. Nina is known for her steady crisis management approach and her ability to help clients move forward confidently in complex and highly scrutinized situations.

Nina Spizer is a criminal defense and investigations attorney with nearly 30 years of experience representing individuals, businesses, health care systems, and public entities in high-stakes matters. She handles complex white collar criminal defense, government investigations, regulatory enforcement actions and serious criminal cases, often involving parallel criminal, civil and administrative exposure. Nina is frequently called when clients face urgent risk, intense public scrutiny or significant business disruption. Clients value her ability to provide clear direction and decisive advocacy during moments of uncertainty.

Before joining private practice, Nina served as chief of the trial unit of the Federal Community Defender for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where she supervised the office’s criminal docket and maintained an active trial practice in some of the district’s most high-profile and complex cases. Her experience provides deep insight into federal charging practices, prosecutorial decision-making and the expectations of the judiciary.

That experiences has transferred to private practice where Nina continues to represent individuals in high-stakes criminal matters, as well as more traditional white collar defendants. She also represents health care organizations and pharmaceutical companies in government investigations, as well as advises municipalities, public officials and other public-facing clients in matters involving criminal investigations, ethics, oversight and regulatory compliance. Nina regularly advises businesses and individuals on internal investigations and government contract matters, including False Claims Act and RICO investigations, complex fraud prosecutions and enforcement actions involving agencies such as the Department of Justice, DEA, CMS and HHS.

Her practice includes emerging areas such as cryptocurrency-related prosecutions and SEC and financial regulatory matters, as well as serious violent offenses, public corruption cases and major drug and firearms prosecutions. Nina’s representation spans from pre-indictment strategy through trial, sentencing, cooperation and post-conviction advocacy, and she is widely recognized for her command of federal criminal procedure, sentencing guidelines and mitigation strategy.

In addition to her litigation practice, Nina has served as a clinical professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, teaching evidence, trial advocacy, forensics, pretrial motions and sentencing. She also served for a decade as the federal defender liaison to the Criminal Justice Act Panel, designing and implementing training programs for court-appointed counsel. Nina currently serves on the CJA Panel Selection Committee and is chair of the Federal Criminal Law Committee.