Faculty Profile: Nicholas Spangler

Nick serves as Special Counsel for Criminal Justice at the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office.  He is the lead litigator, coordinator, and supervisor for teams defending capital convictions and sentences in trial courts across the State.

Nick joined the Attorney General’s Office in 2010 after serving as an Assistant District Attorney General in the 14th Judicial District (Coffee County).  After his promotion to team leader and then to deputy of the Criminal Appeals Division, he joined the Office of the Solicitor General.

Nick has extensive experience with criminal appeals and federal habeas litigation.  He has argued many cases in the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  He has also written many briefs opposing certiorari in capital cases at the United States Supreme Court. 

Nick is a graduate of the University of North Dakota School of Law in Grand Forks and Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota.