About Gabrielle De Santis
Gabrielle De Santis Nield built her academic foundation in Los Angeles. She earned a Bachelor of Arts at Loyola Marymount University and went on to receive her J.D. from Southwestern Law School. Those local institutions shaped the early contours of her legal training and gave her immersion in both state and federal legal practice in California.
After law school she became admitted to practice in California. She is also admitted to the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Those admissions allow her to appear in state trial courts, federal appellate courts and, when necessary, before the nation’s highest court.
Her work has involved appellate procedure and federal litigation. She prepares briefs, handles records on appeal, and appears for oral argument. Her practice requires translating trial records into concise appellate records and identifying the legal issues that appellate panels will consider.
Colleagues describe her as methodical in preparing appellate filings and precise in courtroom presentation. She has navigated the technical rules that govern appeals and has worked with litigators at the trial level to preserve issues for appeal. That bridging role is a frequent part of her day-to-day work.
Her admissions to the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court reflect a role that extends beyond California’s courts. They allow her to pursue matters that raise federal constitutional or statutory questions and to follow cases as they move through the federal appellate system.
Outside of court work, she has spent time preparing complex legal documents and reviewing procedural postures to advise on the viability of appeals. The work is detail-oriented and procedural. It often requires a steady cadence of research, drafting and tactical planning.
She now concentrates her practice on appellate litigation in both federal and state courts. This current practice focus centers on preparing appeals, filing and opposing certiorari petitions where appropriate, and presenting oral argument before appellate panels.
