Meet our Team
Bruce Kapsack
Originally from New York, Bruce Kapsack was graduated from Plymouth State College in 1984 and received his law degree from American University Washington College of Law in 1987. He immediately went to work for the Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Division in the South Bronx. Bruce moved to California to get married and start a family, he has 3 children, and was hired for the police oversight Office of Citizen Complaints in San Francisco. Mr. Kapsack then opened his own office specializing in DUI Defense, he has written two books on the subject, which he ran for over 20 years. Wanting to return to public service Bruce moved to Redding California as the Chief Assistant Public Defender then to Nevada City as the Assistant for the Collaborative Courts. He is now the designated Deputy Public Defender in the Truckee Courthouse.
Tamara Zuromskis
Tamara Zuromskis has been an attorney with the Nevada County Public Defender’s Office for the past eleven years. She has worked in all of the Nevada County courts and is currently assigned to adult felonies, mental health court, and DUI court. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.
Previously she worked as an Assistant Public Defender in Placer County and a Death Penalty Clerk in Contra Costa County. During law school, she interned at the San Francisco County Public Defender’s Office and the American Civil Liberties Union and volunteered at a food stamp legal aid clinic.
Thomas Angell
Thomas Angell graduated from UC Davis in 2006, and from UC Law SF in 2011. He interned at the Nevada County Public Defender in 2009 and 2010, externed at the Marin County Public Defender’s Office in 2011. He worked for the Yuba County Public Defender’s Office 2012-2015 before landing back home in Nevada County. Besides public defense, he’s passionate about playing fiddle music at festivals around the country.
Hayley E Dewey
Hayley E Dewey joined the Nevada County Public Defender's Office in 2016. Originally from East Tennessee, she earned her law degree from Florida State University and studied English literature, economics, and social work as an undergraduate.
She began her career in public defense in Leon County, Florida, where she wrote and argued appellate briefs before the First District Court of Appeals and later clerked for the Honorable Judge Terry Lewis and the Honorable Judge Mark Walker. Upon becoming licensed in California, she practiced private criminal defense before joining the Office of the Public Defender in Nevada County.
Katie Finch
Katie Finch graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 2014. With the exception of a brief tenure at a civil litigation firm, Katie has worked in public defense for the entirety of her legal career. She enjoys representing those who find themselves in criminal court and is grateful for the opportunity to work with and advocate for the community members of Nevada County.
Katie worked as a deputy public defender in Yuba County, California for just over five years prior to joining the office in Nevada County. She handled a variety of misdemeanor and felony cases for her clients in Yuba County. Additionally, she advocated for her clients in the Yuba County Drug Court and represented community members facing conservatorship by the county. As a law student, she worked as a certified legal intern for the San Francisco Office of the Public Defender, as well as for her law school’s Criminal and Juvenile Justice Clinic where she represented several juvenile clients in addition to adult community members.
Administrative Team
On our administrative team we have Adria Villegas as our Legal Office Supervisor. Wendy Shingle is a Senior Legal Secretary for the office, she has been with Nevada County since 2006. Karin Pranckitas is a Senior legal secretary for the office. She has worked for Nevada County since 2006. Emily Montierth is our Legal Office Assistant.