Fighting for your freedom is difficult in the best of times, this is even more true in our federal courts today.  The current administration is focused on fraud investigations and the system is designed to take the innocent with the guilty if necessary.  William Blackstone was famous for saying that the guilty go free if they must, but it is the law that sets them free. Our firm is built on fighting for Blackstone's principle.  We defend each client to try an ensure that the 1 innocent does not suffer the fate of the guilty.  The rule in today's criminal court has changed to one where the defendant must prove his/her innocence.  We must be ready to do just that in federal court. 

  BIO - Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer- Russell Warren Mace III has been practicing criminal defense since 1997.  Traveling to jurisdictions across the country and outside the United States to defend individuals and companies from the government is a daunting experience that most attorneys do not participate in on a regular basis.  Mr. Mace recently has conducted several criminal trials in Charleston, South Carolina.  There are several good criminal defense lawyers in Charleston and our firm affiliates with these attorneys in Charleston when several defendants are involved.

Having spent years dedicated to criminal defense in Miami, the firm has grown to a point where only select cases are handled because of the time involved in representing each client.  With the addition of law offices in Charleston, South Carolina, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and New York much time is spent traveling to federal jurisdictions throughout the United States.

Mr. Mace was born in Texas and spent time in Ft. Worth and Houston prior to moving to Georgia with his family.  He started his legal career as an intern at the Miami Public Defender Office in 1996 and was an Assistant Public Defender for several years in Miami, Florida. As a Public Defender in Miami, trial experience was a daily event.  Mr. Mace represented clients ranging from juvenile cases to murder.  Mr. Mace has been practicing Criminal Defense for over 14 years prior to opening the latest office in New York.  Miami is one of the largest legal communities in the United States and Mr. Mace was selected as one of the best criminal defense lawyers in the State in 2007.  Mr. Mace has argued before appellate courts and has conducted over 100 trials to verdict.  Mr. Mace prefers defending federal indictments in districts all over the United States and in some cases outside of the country.   Practicing criminal defense in different areas of the country has allowed Mr. Mace to gain invaluable experience with several government agencies from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the Drug Enforcement Administration.  Each prosecuting branch has a different view on which crimes should be prosecuted  to the fullest degree.  Recently in South Carolina fraud indictments are the primary concern for the Justice Department  and Mr. Mace an experience criminal defense lawyer for these types of indictments. Defending white collar crime cases has become a major area of practice for the firm with the economic down turn in recent years.   

After having successfully represented several hundred clients as a Public Defender, Mr. Mace was hired by a civil law firm in Boca Raton, Florida, where he began fighting large insurance companies. Tackling the civil arena was exciting, but Mr. Mace had a strong desire to return to criminal defense. Mr. Mace opened his own firm in Miami Beach in 2002.   In 2008 another office was opened in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.    In 2010 the firm opened a criminal defense office in Charleston, South Carolina.  Mr. Mace is  our criminal defense lawyer in Charleston and spends a great amount of time defending federal cases in Charleston  This office allows the firm to represent clients all over the State of South Carolina.  The latest office in in New York and serves as a satellite office for cases in the Southern District of New York and cases in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.  Mr. Mace is our federal defense lawyer in New York.  Mr. Mace has been appointed to the Federal Criminal Justice Administration panel for Charleston, Florence and Columbia, South Carolina.  The panel is dedicated to defending individuals indicted in Federal Courts throughout South Carolina.  Mr. Mace had previously been a member of the panel for the Southern District of Florida.  This panel covered federal cases in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Key West.  Mr. Mace represents clients and companies throughout the United States and internationally with a focus on federal criminal defense.  Mr. Mace also represents clients on federal appeals throughout the United States.  This appellate work enables Mr. Mace in improve his ability to defendant indictments at the trial level.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Member of United States Supreme Court
• Member of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (New York, NY)
  
• Member of Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (Richmond, VA)
  
• Member of Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Atlanta, GA)
  
• Member of the United States Southern District Court, Miami
• Member of the United States Eastern District Court, Detroit
• Member of the United States District Court, South Carolina
• Member of The Criminal Justice Act Panel, South Carolina
• Prior Member of The Criminal Justice Act Panel, South District, Florida
• Member of the Federal Bar Association
  
• Member of New York Bar
• Member of Florida Bar
• Member of Georgia Bar
• Member of South Carolina Bar
• Member of Charleston Bar Association
• Member of National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys
• Member of South Carolina Criminal Defense Lawyer Association
• 2007 voted one of top 25 Criminal Defense Attorneys in Florida
• Over 100  cases tried to verdict
  

Nicole Elizabeth Nicolette

We have a great Federal and State Appellate Attorney on staff who has filed briefs in federal courts throughout the United States. Nicole Elizabeth Nicolette started working with the firm in June of 2004 while she was finishing her second year of law school.  Ms. Nicolette has passed the bar exam in South Carolina, Florida and Georgia.  She is a member of several state bar associations and the Federal Courts for South Carolina and Florida.  She has argued before the Fourth Circuit on numerous occasions in just the past year alone. She has written habeas petitions to state and federal appellate courts on criminal cases in several jurisdictions.  She has filed direct appeals in Florida and South Carolina State Courts, The United States Supreme Court, The Eleventh Circuit (Georgia, Florida, Alabama) and the Fourth Circuit which covers South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.  She has won several appeals on new issues and given clients the ability to file ineffective assistance of counsel motions that the courts will actually review.

Ms. Nicolette is an extremely talented legal writer, who in just a short period of time has completed several briefs to the State and Federal Appellate Courts.  Ms. Nicolette has filed several appellate briefs in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia and in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virgina.  A great deal of her time is spent working with clients on their appeals and on preserving appellate issues at the trial level.  She has written dozens of federal appeals and state appeals.  Winning a case on appeal is very difficult and takes a tremendous amount of time dedicated to researching the law and reviewing the case at the trial level.  Having a federal appellate attorney in a criminal defense firm is crucial.  No criminal defense attorney can properly handle both the trial and the appeal. 

EXAMPLE BRIEFS FILED

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Member of United States Supreme Court
• Member of Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Member of Criminal Justice Act for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Member of Florida Bar
• Member of Florida Supreme Court
• Member of Georgia Bar
• Member of South Carolina Bar
• Member of United States District Court for South Carolina
• Numerous Federal Appeals filed per year

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Office Numbers:

• Nationwide  (800)-94-TRIAL
  

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Our Charleston Criminal Lawyer is available for a consultation regarding any federal or state indictment.  For more information about our qualifications defending clients in federal court, please call or email our office.