Nancy J. Waples
Director
Nancy is a criminal defense attorney whose practice primarily focuses on representing clients in the federal courts at both the trial and appellate levels. Nancy’s criminal defense clients are charged with a wide range of offenses. The cases are often multi-jurisdictional involving the accused leaders or organizers of major drug, gun trafficking, and alien-smuggling conspiracies or complex fraud cases. Nancy also represents clients in state trial and appellate courts in both Vermont and New York, and witnesses and targets in Grand Jury investigations and in inquiries by state and federal regulators.
Appointed by the Vermont Supreme Court in 2006, Nancy is one of two defense attorneys on the Vermont Model Criminal Jury Instructions Committee, which drafts and revises jury instructions used by trial judges, defense attorneys, and prosecutors. She is a member of the United States District Court Advisory Committee for the District of Vermont and also serves on the United States District Court Criminal Law Sub-Committee. She currently serves on the Criminal Justice Act panel for the district of Vermont, and was appointed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to act as a liaison to the federal courts and oversee the panel of private attorneys assigned to represent indigent clients in federal criminal cases.
Nancy moved to Vermont in 1990. Prior to joining Hoff Curtis in April 2005, Nancy served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Vermont as a federal prosecutor. She developed an expertise in federal firearms laws, prosecuting a majority of those cases for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She also prosecuted other crimes including bank fraud and bank robbery, drug related offenses, social security fraud, child pornography, and counterfeiting.
Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Nancy served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York City. First assigned to the Appeals Bureau, she briefed and argued over 50 criminal appeals before the New York appellate courts. She also briefed and argued many post-conviction petitions in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. She served in the trial division of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, trying cases in New York Supreme Court. Prior to her legal career, she was a staff member of the Committee on United States-China Relations at United Nations Plaza in New York City. She is fluent in the Chinese language.
Nancy is a former president of the Vermont Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, Vermont Bar Association, and American Bar Association. She is a frequent lecturer and panelist on trial practice before the Vermont Bar Association and the Vermont Association of Criminal Trial Lawyers. Nancy is listed in New England Super Lawyers.
Nancy has contributed to her community as a member of the State of Vermont Environmental Board. Appointed by Governor Howard Dean, she served for four years, hearing and deciding appeals regarding major development and land use laws in the state. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Directors for the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association.
Nancy attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and received her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law in New York City. She is an avid golfer who also enjoys hiking and cross-country skiing. She resides in Hinesburg with her husband, two sons and five dogs.