Jo-Anna Marie Nieves Built Her Defense Practice Around a Powerful Idea: Your Charges Do Not Define You

A criminal accusation can take over a person’s identity before a jury ever hears the evidence. Employers see a liability. Neighbors see a headline. Prosecutors see another file moving through an unforgiving system. Jo-Anna Marie Nieves sees something else: a human being whose career, family, freedom, and future are still worth defending.

That perspective has shaped an unusually dynamic legal career. Nieves began developing her understanding of criminal prosecution inside the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, where her work encompassed misdemeanor and domestic-violence arraignments, adult sexual-assault prosecutions, felony preliminary hearings, plea negotiations, suppression motions, and trial preparation. She learned how the government evaluates evidence, applies pressure, and decides whether to negotiate or push forward.

She then sharpened her courtroom instincts through an extraordinary volume of civil litigation. Before establishing her own firm, Nieves handled more than 400 creditor-rights matters and maintained a 95% success rate across more than 100 trials. That experience demanded discipline, command of the record, and the ability to make complicated facts persuasive under pressure. In 2012, she brought those skills into criminal defense by founding The Nieves Law Firm, APC.

The strongest measure of a defense attorney, however, is what changes for the person represented. In United States v. Sandhu, Nieves represented a lawful permanent resident facing removal because of a prior federal drug conviction. The Eastern District of California granted the petition for a writ of error coram nobis and vacated the conviction in its entirety. The result stopped the removal proceedings driving the case and allowed the client to remain in the United States with his family.

Her record also includes the complete defeat of a ten-count criminal case. Six charges were dismissed through motion practice before trial; Nieves then prevailed on every remaining allegation, leaving the client acquitted across the board. In another difficult matter, she took over the defense, reconstructed what had occurred during earlier hearings, exposed critical weaknesses through courtroom negotiations, and secured dismissal. Past results cannot promise a future outcome, but these matters demonstrate the difference between simply managing a criminal case and materially changing its direction.

Nieves’s influence now extends well beyond her own courtroom. She served as president of the Alameda County Bar Association in 2025 and remains part of its leadership as Past-President. Since 2018, she has also helped train future advocates through Stanford Law School’s Trial Advocacy program. Those roles place her in two demanding positions: helping guide the legal profession today while preparing its next generation for the courtroom.

National media organizations have recognized the value of that perspective. ABC News, CBS News, Court TV, Forbes, Nancy Grace’s Crime Stories, and Dr. Phil’s MeritTV have featured Nieves for criminal-law analysis. She brings audiences more than legal terminology; she explains how evidence, procedure, prosecutorial judgment, and defense strategy operate when a case becomes real.

Meanwhile, the firm she founded has expanded to six offices across Oakland, Fremont, San Jose, Stockton, Fairfield, and Sacramento, extending its reach from the Bay Area into the Central Valley. That growth has earned The Nieves Law Firm three consecutive appearances on the Inc. 5000. Nieves has also been selected to the Northern California Super Lawyers list for 2025 and 2026 after nine consecutive Rising Stars selections. Client response is equally substantial: the firm maintains a 4.9-star Google rating across 272 reviews.

Jo-Anna Marie Nieves has built more than a résumé of trials, leadership positions, and media appearances. She has created a defense platform centered on restoring control to people at the precise moment the justice system threatens to take it away.

That combination of experience, reputation, verified professional standing, and public credibility is why Jo-Anna Marie Nieves was included on FreddieFender.com.