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Lenell Nussbaum represents individuals in criminal investigations, trials and appeals in state and federal courts. She is counsel of record in more than 60 published appellate opinions. The Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers presented her with its William O. Douglas Award "for extraordinary courage and dedication to the practice of criminal law." She has been profiled in The American Lawyer and The Champion. She serves as a Justice on the Suquamish Tribal Appeals Court. She is a Past President of WACDL, a founding member of the Washington Appellate Lawyers' Association, and a member of the Washington Sentencing Guidelines Commission. She is a 1980 graduate of The University of Michigan Law School. |
| Lenell Nussbaum has handled a number of important and high profile cases in Washington State. State v. Janes (1993) established the battered child syndrome for self-defense for the first time in the nation; State v. Bland (2005) rewrote the jury instruction for defending one's property; State v. Karpenski (1999) redefined when a child witness is competent to testify and when the child's statements are admissible; State v. Byrd (1995) rewrote the definition of criminal assault; State v. Trull (1990) guaranteed juveniles the right to counsel. She also successfully represented a plastic surgeon charged with raping a patient; was co-counsel requesting a new trial for a young man who killed his abusive school teacher; and obtained a commutation of a prison sentence to a hospice for an inmate with AIDS. She was co-counsel for a woman convicted in the Wenatchee "Sex Ring" cases, vacating a forty-year sentence after five years. And she successfully represented an 11-year-old girl who wanted to play soccer on the boys' team. As a member of the Washington Sentencing Guidelines Commission, she participated in re-writing the Sentencing Reform Act after the United States Supreme Court found portions of it unconstitutional in Blakely v. Washington. She testifies at the Legislature on issues of criminal justice. She has been an expert witness on ineffective assistance of counsel. She frequently speaks at legal seminars, for attorneys and other professionals within the system. |