Larry Allen Nathans
Recognized since 2008
Baltimore, Maryland
Criminal Defense: General Practice
Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Mr. Nathans is one of the leading White Collar and General Criminal Defense attorneys in Maryland. In his over 40-year legal career, he has successfully represented white collar clients in grand jury investigations, trials, and appeals, and has litigated cases in federal courts throughout the country and in almost all Maryland state courts. He is a recognized authority on federal sentencing and is frequently engaged to represent individuals, co-counsel, and serve as a consultant to law firms in criminal proceedings. Mr. Nathans has also won numerous cases on behalf of clients accused of public corruption, attorneys before grievance panels, federal and state narcotics defendants, state post-conviction and federal habeas corpus client's, and individuals being investigated and/or charged with a variety of other federal and state felonies and misdemeanors. Mr. Nathans has also successfully defended many lawyers in ethics investigations. Mr. Nathans is a former Chief Assistant Federal Defender for Maryland and a former adjunct Trial Practice professor at the Catholic University School of Law.
AWARDS
Recipient of the 2002 Leadership in Law Award presented by the Daily Record, Maryland's legal publication. The award honors efforts to better the legal system, the community, and mentoring efforts which promote a strong generation of future professional and community leaders.
Elected in 2003 to become a Fellow of the Maryland Bar, an honor reserved for only 1% of the members of the state bar.
Selected by his peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America for 2008-2025 (White Collar and Non-White Collar Criminal Defense). Mr. Nathans was selected as the 2025 and 2021 Maryland Lawyer of the Year in White Collar Criminal Defense and the 2015 Maryland Lawyer of the Year in Non-white Collar Criminal Defense.
Selected by his colleagues for inclusion in the Maryland Super Lawyers for 2008-2025 in the area of White Collar Criminal Defense.
Chosen by his peers his law firm (Nathans & Biddle) has been included in the U.S. News 2010-2025 listing of Tier 1 White Collar Criminal Defense and Criminal Defense firms in Maryland.
Martindale-Hubbell has continually given Mr. Nathans its highest "AV" rating for 25 consecutive years.
LEADERSHIP POSITIONS, PUBLICATIONS & SPEECHES
Mr. Nathans was Chairperson of the American Bar Association's (ABA) White Collar Crime Subcommittee on Federal Sentencing from 1999 through 2006. He is a past President of the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys' Association (MCDAA) and a past Vice-Chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer's (NACDL) Post-Conviction and Sentencing Committee. Mr. Nathans is a former member of the Practitioner's Advisory Group to the Federal Sentencing Commission and is a current member of the Federal Bar Association.
Mr. Nathans is a regular lecturer at national and Maryland criminal defense programs, including serving as a panel moderator at the American Bar Association (ABA) White Collar annual seminar and as the only criminal defense attorney presenter at a seminar for newly appointed Federal District Court Judges. His publication, Federal Sentencing Downward Departures, was the preeminent text on federal sentencing mitigation.
Mr. Nathans lectures include the following topics: Defending White Collar cases; Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit Criminal Law; federal and state criminal trials; representing clients charged with various fraud offenses; cross-examining informants and cooperating witnesses; opening statements; sentencing mitigation; investigating federal criminal cases; dealing with the press in high profile cases; filing pretrial motions in federal court; effective use of federal 17(c) subpoenas; representing cooperating witnesses; attacking search and seizure warrants; detention and pretrial release issues; forging new paths in demonstrative evidence; Bureau of Prisons classification policies; how to impeach the government's witnesses; plea bargaining under the federal sentencing guidelines; and freeing the wrongfully convicted.
Mr. Nathans has appeared on ABC's Good Morning America, Fox National News, Court Television, Black Entertainment Television, National Public Radio and all of the local Baltimore and District of Columbia area television stations.
EDUCATION AND BAR ADMISSIONS
Mr. Nathans is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Florida, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1978 after having only spent 6 1/2 years in College and High School. He received his law degree from Northeastern University School of Law in 1982.
Mr. Nathans is admitted to practice law in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Florida, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
PERSONAL
Mr. Nathans has two children. One is employed by T. Rowe Price and the other is a Data Analyst at a Division I football team. Mr. Nathans loves youth sports and has served as a Head Coach for Towsontowne Recreational League Basketball, and as an Assistant Coach for the LTRC Blue Football Knights, Mount Washington Recreational Soccer and Roland Park Baseball teams.
- E-mail: nathans@nathanslaw.com
- Direct Phone Number: 410-783-0272 ext. 101
- Phone Number: 410-783-0272 ext. 101
- Lawyer Page: https://www.nathanslaw.com/attorneys/larry-allen-nathans/
- 120 East Baltimore Street, Suite 1800
Baltimore, MD 21202 - 18 West Street
Annapolis, MD 21401 - 6411 Ivy Lane, Suite 116
Greenbelt, MD 20770
- University of Florida, B.A. - Phi Beta Kappa , graduated 1978
- Northeastern University, J.D., graduated 1982
- Florida, The Florida Bar
- District of Columbia, The District of Columbia Bar
- Maryland, Maryland State Bar Association
- Maryland Federal Bar Association - Member
- Practitioner''s Advisory Group to the Federal Sentencing Commission - Former Member
- Maryland Criminal Defense Attorney''s Association - Former President
- NACDL Subcommittee on Post Conviction and Sentencing - Former Vice Chair
- ABA White Collar Subcommittee on Federal Sentencing - Former Chair
- Supreme Court
- 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
- 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
- D.C.
- D.C. Court of Appeals
- U.S. District Court for Maryland
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
- U.S. District Court for D.C.
- Maryland
- Florida
2 The Best Lawyers in America® awards
- Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Baltimore (2025)
- Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Baltimore (2021)
- Criminal Defense: General Practice, Baltimore (2015)
- Criminal Defense: General Practice
- Criminal Defense: White-Collar
- Appellate
- Civil and Criminal
- COVID-19
- Criminal Investigations
- Environmental Crimes
- Federal
- Fraud
- Government Investigations
- Grand Jury
- Litigation
- State
- State and Federal
- Violent and Nonviolent Crimes
- Maryland Super Lawyers (2008-2024)
- Maryland Daily Record Leadership and Law Award (2002)
- Maryland Bar Foundation (2003)
- Phi Beta Kappa (1978)
- Best Lawyers (2008-2024) - White Collar and Non White Collar Criminal Defense
- Qui Tam Law
- Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
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