Biography

Alina Shell is a skilled litigator with more than a decade of experience representing clients in state and federal civil and criminal matters, as well as in appellate court.

She has deep experience handling matters involving civil rights, prisoner rights, public records and court access, employment law, complex commercial, state and federal appeals, state cannabis law and state post-conviction proceedings.

Alina often participates in local and national training seminars for criminal defense attorneys and civil practitioners, instructing attorneys on issues such as persuasive legal writing, persuasive sentencing advocacy, public records litigation and civil rights litigation.

Services and Industries

Background

Prior to joining Armstrong Teasdale, Alina served as a senior attorney at another Las Vegas area law firm. She spent the past several years in private practice, and before that served in various roles for the Federal Public Defenders for the District of Nevada (FPD), most recently as assistant federal defender. While at the FPD, Alina participated in trials and worked on direct appeals, briefing and arguing numerous cases before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She tackled a broad range of issues, including challenges to sentencing decisions, fighting prosecutorial misconduct, and challenging the constitutionality of criminal statutes (including by raising First Amendment issues). Alina also developed experience in defending white-collar criminal cases, trial work and pornography cases.

Alina also previously worked as officer manager and program coordinator for the ACLU of Nevada, working alongside attorneys on a variety of issues, including advocating for the rights of homeless people, the First Amendment rights of pamphleteers and prisoners’ rights.