David James Tarrell

David Tarrell is dedicated to fighting for the rights and liberty of people accused by the government.  He has been representing defendants in the courtroom since 2000, protecting thousands of clients in federal and state courts in areas ranging from simple misdemeanors to complex federal drug conspiracies.  Mr. Tarrell also has vast appellate experience, appearing numerous times before the Nebraska Court of Appeals and the Nebraska Supreme Court.  He has pursued post conviction remedies in both state and federal court and has argued in criminal appeals before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Since 2011, Mr. Tarrell has been licensed in Iowa and has continued to expand his case experience on the Southern District’s Federal CJA panel and the Federal CJA panel in Nebraska.

 Mr. Tarrell started his criminal defense career with the Douglas County Public Defenders Office in 2000, representing the interests of defendants in a broad variety of cases.  In 2003, he was awarded a scholarship to attend the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia.  He was awarded another scholarship in 2005 to attend the Trial Skills Institute at Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College in DuBois, Wyoming.  Shortly thereafter, Mr. Tarrell was elected to Trial Lawyers’ College’s F Warrior Alumni Board.  He draws a lot of inspiration from these teachings and has returned to Trial Lawyers College for several week-long graduate training sessions.  Mr. Tarrell is also active in the Nebraska Criminal Defense Attorneys Association, and is currently President of that organization, which is dedicated to educating and uniting criminal defense attorneys across the state.  Additionally, Mr. Tarrell is a member of the National College of DUI Defense (NCDD) and has been admitted to a seminar at Harvard University to gain even more training to successfully defend people accused of DUI in Nebraska and Iowa. 

Mr. Tarrell not only loves to practice law, he also loves to write and originally studied English, earning both Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in the field.  He has published articles in the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers magazine, The Champion, as well as Trial Lawyers College’s magazine, The Warrior.  In his spare time, Mr. Tarrell enjoys being a parent to his two grown daughters as well as fishing, hunting and kayaking.