Nicole Leva (’24) is a rising star in New York

Just eight months into her legal career at Russo & Gould, LLP in New York, Nicole Leva (’24) won her first jury trial. And by almost any measure in the legal profession, she wasn’t supposed to be there yet.

“Some people wait their entire careers to go to trial,” she said. “The fact that I went in eight months is pretty crazy. It’s honestly unheard of.”

 As a first-year associate at Russo & Gould, LLP Leva handles automobile liability and premises liability cases She’s currently managing roughly 80 active matters. The work is demanding and constant — but a full trial, with a judge, a jury, a plaintiff, a defendant, and a verdict that cannot be undone, is something different entirely.

“The scariest part is the finality,” she said. “When we’re done, it’s done. And you see your client’s reaction the moment the verdict is read.”

Her client was a New York City taxi driver — a man who walked into a courtroom carrying a stereotype before he said a word.

“They typically don’t have the greatest reputation in New York,” Leva said. “Everyone comes in with this idea that they drive like maniacs. I tried to humanize him — a hardworking guy, just doing his job, with a client in his car when the accident happened.

She built her case around who he was, not just what happened.

None of it felt easy in the moment.

Everything was moving fast — maybe too fast. When she stepped up to cross-examine the plaintiff , her carefully prepared notes became beside the point.

“I was most nervous during the cross-examination,” she said. “I had to cross-examine the plaintiff, They’re right in front of you, so prepping questions doesn’t really work. You have to think on your feet and ask the right questions in response to what they say. I went in there with the best outline ever — and I don’t think I touched a single question I’d written.”

The experience felt compressed, almost surreal. “I remember wanting to take notes so I could learn from it,” she said. “What happened? What did I do? What can I do better next time? I looked down — I hadn’t taken a single one. Everything was moving so fast.”

For Leva, stress has a way of sharpening her resolve. When the nerves hit, she doesn’t fight them — she redirects them.

“For me, the bar exam is a good example,” she said. “That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, When I get nervous, I remind myself that I know the law and I am prepared. If I can pass the bar exam, I can do anything.”

When the verdict came in, Leva saw her client’s face.

“He was super happy,” she said. “He gave me a high five, jumped up and down, and ran down the hallway.”

She described the experience — her first-ever trial win — as “extremely rewarding” — but she’s quick to share the credit.  David Gould, a partner at the firm, encouraged her to take on the opportunity when she wasn’t sure she was ready. “He could tell I was nervous, and he said, ‘You’ve got to do this,'” she recalled.

Throughout the preparation process, Gould, John Komar and trial Christopher Mehno, provided guidance and support every step of the way.

What she took from the experience, though, was entirely her own: a deeper trust in herself.

“Learning to really trust myself is what I learned from this,” she said. “You just need to either be pushed a little bit — or just jump.”

At Charleston Law, Leva served as President of the Business Law Society and competed on the Transactional Law advocacy team, where she negotiated business transactions, drafting agreement, and representing the law school in transactional law competition against teams from across the country. She arrived in New York having done the work. The trial confirmed it.

Her advice to the next class of Charleston Law graduates is grounded and practical — and earned.

“Trust yourself and think on your feet,” she said. “You can only prepare for something so much. At some point, you have to let go and rely on what you know. I could have not slept for weeks, and it wouldn’t have helped.”

She paused, then added: “It was never my plan to go to court or try cases, so I didn’t have that kind of experience before becoming a lawyer. But cross-examination is something that will come with repetition. And now I’ve done it once.”

Do you remember your first? For Nicole Leva, it’s etched in her story: May 12, 2026, a date and moment she will never forget.