John E. Nicoll

John E. Nicoll is the elected District Public Defender (DPD) for the Fourteenth Judicial District, a position that he has held since 2015. He leads an office responsible for representing more than two thousand indigent clients facing criminal prosecution each year. John began his legal career in the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. During his military service, he gained significant criminal law and trial experience as a trial counsel for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division, and then later as senior trial counsel and chief of criminal law for the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate. After receiving an honorable discharge, John and his wife founded a private law firm in Manchester, Tennessee. In private practice, John served as defense counsel for hundreds of clients in the state and appellate courts of Tennessee as well as the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Chattanooga, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Criminal Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a magna cum laude graduate from Furman University and a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law. John also has a master’s in business administration from Middle Tennessee State University.