Nana Knight, CEO & Founder
Award-winning veteran, California State Bar Board-certified criminal law specialist, former prosecutor
Memberships & Associations
- Board of Directors, Monterey County Bar Association (2020-2023)
- Santa Clara Bar Association
- National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys
- California Lawyer’s Association – Criminal Law Section
- American Bar Association – Criminal Law Section
- Armenian Bar Association
- Board of Directors (2022) – California District Attorneys Association
- San Mateo Bar Association
Admissions
- California State Bar
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- United States District Court for the Southern District of California
- Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals
- Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
Awards
- Air Force Meritorious Service Award
- Air Force Commendation Medal
- Air Force Achievement Award
- 144 Fighter Wing Headquarters – Field-Grade Officer of the Year Award
- Air Mobility Command Inspector General Award for Outstanding Performance
- National Defense Service Medal with Service Star
Bio
Most people who meet attorney Nana Knight come to know her as a talented attorney, a former prosecutor, and professor of law, a senior military officer, an author, speaker, and community leader. She has spent her career serving her country and practicing criminal law, military law, and civil litigation in courtrooms throughout California and the western part of the United States.
Nana received her undergraduate degree from UCLA, graduating summa cum laude and with college honors. She earned her law degree from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly Hastings). After graduating from law school, she joined the United States Air Force and served as an officer on active duty. During her military service on active duty, she prosecuted complex sexual assault cases, developing specialized expertise in this field. She also served as chief in-house counsel, advising high-ranking commanders on adverse actions, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and on legal issues with implications at the state and national level.
Nana is proud to be a California State Bar Board-certified specialist in criminal law, a distinction that is bestowed upon less than 1% of active California attorneys. This board certification functions similarly to a board certification for medical doctors who have achieved distinction in a specialized field. Attaining board-certification in criminal law requires passing a rigorous examination, lengthy practice and experience in the area of criminal law and procedure, additional hours of specialized training in the area of criminal law, and most importantly, favorable evaluations from opposing counsel, attorney peers, and judges.
During her tenure as a deputy district attorney, Nana prosecuted a wide variety of criminal cases. Her cases included numerous serious and violent felonies, as well as misdemeanors. She prosecuted homicides, including special circumstances murders where the charged individuals were eligible for the death penalty, including serving on special prosecutorial teams for domestic violence and gang crimes. She quickly garnered an impressive record of wins in the courtroom and her cases were publicized by a variety of media outlets, such as: CBS, The Mercury News, NBC, and ABC affiliate KSBW. As a prosecutor, she was frequently invited to train other experienced lawyers both in California and out of state, including as an honorary speaker and subject matter expert on domestic violence.
Nana’s legal and trial experience did not stop with criminal cases. She has also litigated and developed expertise in arbitrations and complex civil cases in both state and federal civil courts in California, where she represented the City of San Jose. As a senior civil litigation attorney, she expertly litigated cases involving personal injury, excessive use of police force, police misconduct, breach of contract, violations of constitutional rights, and employment and unlawful discrimination.
A sought-out legal commentator for media outlets, Nana Knight was featured by Slate.com for legal expert commentary on the homicide scene from the HBO hit series Big Little Lies. She was featured in the Daily Journal, which is one of the most prestigious periodicals for all California attorneys and judges. As an active member of her community, she served as a Director on the Board of Directors for the Monterey County Bar Association for several years and has authored and published articles on the topics of domestic violence, plea agreements, and military justice. As a former adjunct professor of law in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure at Monterey College of Law, she helped train new generations of lawyers to practice law.
Today, continuing her lifelong passion for justice and helping people, she concentrates her practice on serving residents of the Bay Area in the fields of criminal justice, civil litigation, and military law. Nana founded Knight Law as a firm devoted to protecting the rights of the members of her community and serving the residents of San Jose and the Bay Area. With a vision to become her community’s “go to” lawyer in her areas of expertise, she continues to pursue her passion of getting justice for her clients. Her favorite part of her practice is being able to make a difference in someone’s life and seeing her clients succeed, not just in their cases, but also in life.
Clients often come to her in crisis, and she takes the time to learn about each individual client’s life story, giving her clients an honest assessment of their cases and helping them understand the system they unwittingly find themselves in, and the stakes involved.
When you are being investigated, or if you have been arrested, and are charged with a crime, your fight against the system begins. With over a decade of experience as a prosecutor who has prosecuted hundreds of cases, Nana not only knows the system, but she was the system. She knows how prosecutors strategize and evaluate their cases. She knows how they work behind the scenes to convict you. She developed this knowledge because she used the same tactics that the prosecutors are going to use against you. She will identify and exploit the weaknesses in the prosecutor’s case, using her insider knowledge and training to attack the prosecution’s case against you. She can defend you and protect your rights, while working to turn your defense into an offense to achieve the best possible result for you – whether it is negotiating a plea that will protect you or trying your case to the jury. When you choose Knight Law, you are in good hands.
PUBLICATIONS
- A Note On Prosecutorial Ethics, California Continuing Education of the Bar
- “The Plea Agreement as a Contract,” Prosecutor’s Brief, Volume 40, No. 1, Fall 2017
- “I Want to Drop This Case: Dealing with Uncooperative Victims in Domestic Violence Cases,” Prosecutor’s Brief, Volume 39, No. 3, Spring 2017
- “Military Justice: A Guide for the Civilian Prosecutor,” Prosecutor’s Brief, Volume 37, No. 3, Spring 2015
- “Operational Readiness Inspections: A Guide for the Legal Team,” The Air Force Reporter, Volume 41, No. 1, 2014
PAST PRESENTATIONS & SEMINARS
- Monterey County Bar Association Continuing Legal Education, “New and
Amended Rules of Professional Conduct” - Kansas District Attorneys Association, Continuing Legal Education
presenter “Uncooperative Domestic Violence Victims” - United States Army Judge Advocate Corps, Uniform Code of Military
Justice Prosecutions of Domestic Violence - Presidio of Monterey Police Department, Police Report Writing – Tips and
Recommendations - Monterey County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council and Training
Institute on Strangulation Prevention, “Working with Domestic Violence Victims” - Monterey County & San Benito County District Attorney’s Office MCLE,
“New and Amended Rules of Professional Conduct” - YWCA – Monterey County, “Working with Domestic Violence Victims”
- Air Mobility Command, McChord Field, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, “Law of
Armed Conflict and Use of Force Training” - Air Combat Command, 144th Fighter Wing, “Sex Assault Investigations”
- Air Combat Command, 144th Fighter Wing, “Unprofessional Relationships
and Social Media”
