Courtroom Trials: The Prosecutor Wore Pumps
with Tanya K. Pierce
Tanya K. Pierce will reveal the challenges and benefits of her life as a female prosecutor in a West Texas man's world by weaving in some of her trials and case work, her love for and challenges faced when dealing with crime victims, and how television or the written word can profoundly impact investigations and courtroom work.
Tanya Pierce has just been appointed the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, working directly under the Presidentially-appointed U.S. Attorney, Erin Nealy Cox. Previously, she was the Division Counsel for the Dallas Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, a position she had held since January 2009. And from January 2007 to January 2009, Ms. Pierce served as the Chief of Staff to the DEA Administrator at DEA Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Ms. Pierce came to DEA from the Northern District of Texas, where she was an Assistant United States Attorney for over 18 years and the District's Senior Litigation Counsel since 1999. As a federal prosecutor she tried a variety of cases to include drug, firearm, money laundering, tax, child pornography, civil rights, homicide, and capital murder cases.
After graduating from North Texas State University in Denton, Texas with a degree in Political Science and receiving her law degree from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, Ms. Pierce began her career as a law clerk with the 7th Judicial District Court of Appeals. She was then hired as an Assistant Criminal District Attorney for the Lubbock County District Attorney's Office. She served as the Chief Felony Prosecutor specializing in murder and capital murder prosecution.
Ms. Pierce regularly teaches at the Department of Justice National Advocacy Center in the areas Criminal Trial Advocacy, Narcotics Law, Criminal Federal Practice, Homicide and Capital Crimes prosecution. She also served from 2003 to 2009 on the Attorney General's Death Penalty Review committee.