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Nishá Dotson is an Assistant Public Defender in the Felony Trial Division of the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender where she litigates major criminal felony cases. As an Assistant Public Defender, she works to ensure all Cook County residents have equal access to justice, regardless of their background or income. Over the course of her career she has tried more than 100 bench and jury trials to verdict.
Originally from Houston, Nishá received her Bachelor of Arts from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. She earned her Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio, where she received multiple honors, including Dean’s Honor List recognition, the Martin Luther King Jr. Award, the Leadership Award, the CALI Excellence for the Future Award, and the Paul J. Hergenröeder Award for Trial Tactics.
After law school, Nishá began her legal career in Chicago, Illinois, in private practice, where she managed her own law firm and represented clients in areas including family law, employment law, criminal law, personal injury, and wills and trusts.
In addition to her legal practice, Nishá is a law professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she teaches trial practice and advocacy and coaches the Chicago Cup Competition and Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial Teams.
She has also contributed her expertise as a panelist for several legal forums, including the Chicago Bar Association’s panel “Nuanced Injustice: Collateral Immigration Consequences from Convictions,” which examined the often-overlooked immigration ramifications of criminal dispositions, and Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s “Race & Law Symposium,” which explored the social, economic, and political impacts of mass incarceration.
Nishá remains deeply committed to serving the legal community. She is a member of the Board of Managers for the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) and serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Board of Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association (LAGBAC), where she received the Recognition of Service Award. She is also Chair of the LGBTQ Section of the Cook County Bar Association (CCBA), where she was honored with the Presidential Award. She has been featured in the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism’s article, “How to Be an Ally to LGBTQ+ Lawyers,” where she shared insights on how legal professionals can better support the LGBTQ+ community.
