Rina Nakagawa
Founding partner · Juvenile cases and records
Rina started the firm to give families a lawyer who explains the process before the first hearing, not after it. She takes juvenile cases and record petitions.
Criminal defense · Philadelphia
A small team that reads your whole file
Nakagawa & Obiora is three lawyers who defend adults and teenagers charged with crimes in Philadelphia. When you call, one of us answers, explains what happens next and tells you plainly what the charge can mean.
The firm’s docket, counted
What three lawyers file in a year
We count the work, not the outcomes. A file with fewer motions is not a worse case, and none of these figures predicts what will happen in yours.
214
Motions filedTo suppress evidence, dismiss a charge or change bail
96
Record petitions filedTo seal or expunge an old arrest or conviction
37
Preliminary hearings arguedThe first time a judge tests the state’s evidence
181
Discovery requests sentFor police reports, video, lab results and witness statements
Sample figures for the last twelve months, taken from the firm’s own docket. They count work done and say nothing about the results of any case.
Who picks up the phone
Rina, Emeka and Tariq
One shared file for every client. Whichever of us you reach has read it, and none of us will hand you off to someone you have never met.
Emeka Obiora
Partner · Assault cases and trials
Emeka tries the firm’s assault and weapons cases. He is the one who walks a client through what a witness is likely to say, and what we can ask back.
Tariq Mansour
Of counsel · White-collar cases
Tariq reads the paper trail in fraud, embezzlement and theft-by-deception cases, usually before anyone has been charged.
Cases we take
Four kinds of charge, and what comes with each
We take adult and juvenile cases in the Philadelphia courts. If your charge is outside these four, we will say so on the first call and point you to someone who can help.
Assault
Fights, arguments that got physical and weapons allegations, from simple assault to aggravated.
Assault casesWhite-collar
Fraud, embezzlement and theft by deception, often investigated for months before a charge.
White-collar casesJuvenile
Charges against a teenager, and what a family needs to know about court, school and the record.
Juvenile casesOld records
Petitions to seal or expunge an arrest or conviction that still turns up in background checks.
Clearing a record
Sample matters
How some cases have ended
Sample matters, written in plain words. Your own case is a different case.
Dismissed
Simple assault
The only witness changed their account after we asked for the 911 recording.
Not guilty
Theft by deception
A bench trial on a billing dispute the state treated as a crime.
Record sealed
Old drug conviction
A petition for a client now working and raising two children.
Sample matters, not a promise. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Where we appear
The courtrooms we work in
Most of our cases are heard close to the office. We tell you before the first hearing which courtroom and which judge to expect.
- Philadelphia Municipal Court
- Court of Common Pleas
- Family Court, Juvenile Branch
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District
Charged, or think you may be?
Call before you talk to anyone else
Tell us what you know. We will say what happens next, what it can cost and whether we are the right firm. If we are not, we will point you to someone who can help.
Please do not send confidential details through this site until we have spoken.