Russell Warren Mace III

Russell Mace, while in law school, came upon a belief that he has followed during his criminal defense practice.  This belief came from The Great William Blackstone, "It is better that 10 guilty persons escape, than 1 innocent suffer."  This is even more true in our federal courts today.  The system is designed to take the innocent with the guilty if necessary.  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.

Federal Criminal Defense Attorney 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.  In our office we love to go to the fight. 

Mr. Mace 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 until 2001. 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 in Miami for over 13 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.  The federal system in Florida is different than the system in South Carolina which is different than other States and it takes time to become familiar with the differences.  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 the beginning of 2006, the second office was opened in Mr. Mace's home town of Valdosta, Georgia.   In 2008 another office was opened in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.    This office allows the firm to represent clients all over the State of South Carolina. Mr. Mace is handling all criminal matters throughout South Carolina, and 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 throughout the country with a focus on federal criminal defense.  Mr. Mace has been quoted in the local media(Sun News) as Myrtle Beach Lawyer defending mortgage fraud indictments and quoted with regard to police policy in North Myrtle Beach. Mr. Mace has also been quoted in the Detroit Free Press and several other publications related to high profile cases.

• Member of United States Supreme Court
• Member of Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Member of Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
• 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 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

Our firm is lucky to have a great Appellate Attorney on staff to handle any trial problems that may arise.  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 is one of the only lawyers in South Carolina to be a member of 3 separate State Bar Associations.  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 and the 4th 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 to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia and to 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.

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
• Dozens Federal Appeals filed per year