Attorneys
David Nevin
David Nevin has defended criminal cases in Idaho, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond for more than 25 years. He has obtained acquittals in a number of high profile prosecutions which implicated issues of civil rights and government overreaching, including the 1993 Ruby Ridge case, and the recent terrorism prosecution of a Saudi Arabian graduate student, Sami Omar Al-Hussayen.
Mr. Nevin graduated from Colorado State University with a BA in English Literature in 1974, and from law school at the University of Idaho in 1978. After law school he served as an Instructor of Law at the University of Toledo College of Law in Toledo, Ohio, and as a law clerk for the Hon. Jos. J. McFadden, Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court. He was a deputy Ada County Public Defender in Boise, Idaho for three years before forming his present firm in 1983.
Mr. Nevin is a Fellow, and the current Idaho State Chair, of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is a founder and past President of the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and is the namesake of its annual Nevin Professionalism Award, which the organization awards to a criminal defense lawyer who has advanced the ideals of the profession. Mr. Nevin has twice received the organization’s President’s Award for outstanding service to the profession. He also sits on the Board of Directors of Advocates for the West; and is co-chair of the Litigation Technology Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Mr. Nevin serves as an Adjunct Professor of Trial Practice at the University of Idaho College of Law, and has been qualified as an expert witness on the standards for constitutionally effective assistance of counsel in both capital and non-capital cases. He is a frequent lecturer and author on issues involving criminal law and civil rights, including appearances on National Public Radio and Court TV.
Mr. Nevin’s defense of Allan Elias in an environmental crimes case is discussed in the book “Cyanide Canary,” by Hildorfer and Dugoni (Free Press 2004). His defense of Mr. Al-Hussayen is discussed in “American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion,” by Paul M. Barrett (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux 2006). His work in the Ruby Ridge case has been discussed in “Every Knee Shall Bow,” by Jess Walter (Regan Books/Harper Collins 1995), in “Ambush at Ruby Ridge,” by Alan W. Bock (Dickens Press 1995), and in “The Devil’s Advocates,” by H. Mitchell Caldwell (Scribner/Lisa Drew Books 2006). Mr. Nevin received the Clarence Darrow Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho for his defense of Sami Al-Hussayen.
Practice Areas: Criminal Defense and Civil Litigation
- J.D. (Cum Laude) University of Idaho, College of Law, 1978
- B.A. Colorado State University 1974
- Law Clerk - Honorable Jos. J. McFadden, Justice, Idaho Supreme Court 1979-1980
- Bar Admissions: Idaho (1979), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1984), U.S. Supreme Court (1984)