BENJAMIN & MCKAY - Key Persons
Avery was born and raised in Boise. She attended North Idaho College for 2 years where she received an Associate's Degree in General Studies. Following her graduation from NIC, she attended Portland State University where she graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor's of Science in Criminal Justice. Avery plans to continue her education with the goal of earning her J.D.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Fellow
- Founder and past President of the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
David Nevin has defended criminal cases throughout the United States for more than 40 years, with particular emphasis on cases implicating issues of civil rights and government overreaching, including the 1993 Ruby Ridge case, and the 2004 terrorism prosecution of a Saudi Arabian graduate student, Sami Omar Al-Hussayen.
Between 2008 and 2019 Mr. Nevin served as government-appointed lead defense counsel for Mr. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad in his capital prosecution at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba arising from the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. occurring on September 11, 2001 (he continues as detailed defense counsel after retiring as lead counsel).
In 2008, Mr. Nevin joined with legendary trial lawyer Gerry Spence in the successful defense of Geoffrey Fieger, a prominent and outspoken Detroit trial lawyer. Mr. Fieger was charged in a vindictive political prosecution with violation of campaign finance laws. In a 2-month trial in the spring of 2008 in Federal District Court in Detroit, Mr. Fieger was acquitted of all charges.
In 2021, Mr. Nevin was honored to become the first graduate of the University of Idaho College of Law to deliver the annual Bellwood Memorial Lecture. He received the Idaho State Bar's Distinguished Lawyer Award for 2008. The award is made "in recognition of your years of service to the public and the legal profession of the State of Idaho." He was also honored to serve as commencement speaker for the University of Idaho College of Law's Class of 2005. He received the Clarence Darrow Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho for his defense of Sami Al-Hussayen.
Mr. Nevin is a founder and past President of the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and is the namesake of its Nevin Professionalism Award, which the organization awards annually to a criminal defense lawyer who has advanced the ideals of the profession. Mr. Nevin has twice received the organization's President's Award for outstanding service to criminal justice.
Mr. Nevin is also a Fellow, and a former Idaho State Chair, of the American College of Trial Lawyers, serves as an Adjunct Professor of Trial Practice at the University of Idaho College of Law, was a founding Board Member of the Idaho Innocence Project and served on the Board of Advocates for the West, a nonprofit conservation law firm using environmental laws to protect the West's rivers, public lands, and wildlife. He also serves on the National Security Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Mr. Nevin is a frequent lecturer and author on issues involving trial practice, criminal law, and civil rights.
Mr. Nevin's defense of Mr. Mohammad is discussed in the book "The War in Court," by Lisa Hajjar (U. Calif. Press, 2022). His defense of Allan Elias in an environmental crimes case is discussed in the book "Cyanide Canary," by Hildorfer and Dugoni (Free Press 2004). His defense of Mr. Al-Hussayen is discussed in "American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion," by Paul M. Barrett (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux 2006) and in "Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of American Democracy," by Susan N. Herman (Oxford University Press 2011). His work in the Ruby Ridge case has been discussed in "Every Knee Shall Bow," by Jess Walter (Regan Books/Harper Collins 1995), "Ambush at Ruby Ridge," by Alan W. Bock (Dickens Press 1995), and in "The Devil's Advocates," by H. Mitchell Caldwell (Scribner/Lisa Drew Books 2006).
Mr. Nevin is a Top 75 Mountain States Superlawyer, has been named one of the top 500 lawyers in the country by Lawdragon Magazine for ten years, is listed in Best Lawyers in America for criminal defense, and enjoys an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell.
Mr. Nevin graduated from Colorado State University with a BA in English Literature in 1974, and from law school at the University of Idaho in 1978. After law school he served as an Instructor of Law at the University of Toledo College of Law in Toledo, Ohio, and as a law clerk for the Hon. Jos. J. McFadden, Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court. He was a deputy Ada County Public Defender in Boise, Idaho before forming his present firm in 1983.
Mr. Nevin is admitted to practice before the Idaho State and Federal Courts, the Second and Ninth United States Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Supreme Court, and various federal district courts around the country. Mr. Nevin is a member of the pool of qualified civilian defense counsel admitted to practice before the US Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and holds a TS//SCI security clearance.
Debi has been with our firm since 1990 and serves as our office manager. She also works as a legal assistant/paralegal within the firm and has received extensive training in paralegal studies and law office administration. She has acted as the Executive Director of Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers since 1992. Debi graduated from Fruitland High School and attended Idaho State University.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Member of the Idaho Women Lawyers Board of Directors
Debra Groberg practices criminal defense and handles a varied felony and misdemeanor caseload in both state and federal court. Debra has successfully handled cases ranging from driving under the influence to serious violent crimes. She prides herself on her unwavering dedication to her clients, ability to manage a crisis, and keen trial skills.
Debra is a native of Idaho and graduated cum laude from Boise State University before obtaining her law degree from the University of Idaho, College of Law. During law school, she was a research assistant for Constitutional Law, a teaching assistant for Lawyering Process, and the Chief Symposium Editor of the Idaho Law Review. Upon graduation she enjoyed a clerkship for the Honorable Judge David Gratton at the Idaho Court of Appeals before accepting a position as a Deputy Prosecutor for the Ada County Prosecutor's Office.
Debra is a member of the Idaho Women Lawyers Board of Directors, Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She was honored in 2018 as Idaho Business Review's Up & Coming Lawyer and in 2022 she was awarded Idaho Business Review's Accomplished Under 40. Debra was also selected by her peers in 2022, 2023 and 2024 as a Best Lawyers Ones to Watch, a national award for outstanding professional excellence for up and coming lawyers.
In her free time Debra enjoys spending time with her husband and three adopted children. They enjoy the many outdoor activities Idaho offers, reading funny children's books, and eating great local food.
Practice Areas
Defense of Federal and State Crimes
Dennis Benjamin practices criminal defense on appeal and in post-conviction proceedings, in both state and federal courts. After law school, he clerked for Justice Stephen Bistline at the Idaho Supreme Court. Before joining the firm in 1993, he practiced law in both San Francisco and Seattle. Dennis is a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the only active Idaho lawyer so honored.
Practice Areas: Criminal Defense
Drew Navarro has been with the firm since 2002 and works as a paralegal/legal assistant. He attended the University of California at Berkeley graduating with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies Field with a minor in Philosophy. He received a paralegal certificate from Northwest Nazarene University following a six week course. Drew has varied responsibilities within the firm including legal research, document analysis and coding, database creation and management, evidence analysis and overall organization of files. While at the University of California, Drew was active in running the University's Student Cooperative Association, the largest student housing cooperative in North America. He also ran and organized his own class for two and a half years through the DECAL Program (Democratic Education at CAL). Drew lives in Boise's North End.
Before returning home to Boise to join the firm, Nate spent six years in Washington, D.C. with McGuireWoods, LLP practicing in that firm's White Collar Defense and Government Investigations group. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Idaho. He also graduated summa cum laude and first in his class from William & Mary Law School. During law school, he interned for the Honorable Edward J. Lodge and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Upon graduating from law school, Nate spent three years in the federal appellate courts, first as a Staff Attorney in the Fourth Circuit, where he primarily handled criminal appeals, and afterwards, he clerked for the Honorable N. Randy Smith in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Practice Areas
Defense of Federal and State Crimes
Scott McKay has appeared in state and federal courts throughout Idaho and the United States over the last twenty-eight years. He is a lawyer that fights for his clients and as a result, he has obtained acquittals in a number of significant criminal trials as well as multi-million dollar settlements and recoveries in civil cases. In 2016, the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed a $3.79 million dollar jury verdict in favor of his client in a wrongful death case.
Mr. McKay is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has an AV rating, the highest rating available from the Martindale-Hubbell lawyer rating service. A managing partner of a law firm that reviewed Mr. McKay for this service wrote:
"Scott McKay has earned the highest rating you can provide him, as he is an exceptionally skilled, highly ethical, and exceedingly effective advocate for his clients."
The Idaho Statesman has described Mr. McKay as "one of Idaho's best lawyers…." He has been selected by his peers each year since 2001 for listing in Best Lawyers in America which named him Lawyer of the Year in Boise for white collar criminal defense in 2016, 2020, 2022, and again in 2023 and Lawyer of the Year for criminal defense in 2015 and 2020. Mr. McKay has been listed in Mountain States Super Lawyers Magazine each year since it was first published in 2007. This publication features the top 5% of lawyers in Nevada, Utah, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Mr. McKay is a past recipient of the Clarence Darrow Award from the Idaho ACLU and the Gargoyle Award from the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Practice Areas
Defense of Federal and State Crimes