Nikolas T. Nikas is Co-founder, President and General Counsel of Bioethics Defense Fund, a nonprofit legal and educational organization committed to restoring the sanctity of life in law and culture.
Nikas has litigated cases in Federal and State courts across the country, drafted model legislation on issues of life and death, testified as an expert in legislative hearings (including once in the US Senate) and spoken at many law and medical schools, universities and conferences domestically and overseas. He has also spoken to parishes and Catholic high schools and Catholic organizations such as Legatus and the Knights of Columbus.
Currently, he focuses the vast majority of his time speaking and writing. He has recently co-authored a book, “Now and at the Hour of Our Death: making moral decisions at the end of life,” published by Ignatius Press in May 2024. He is currently co-drafting a second book on the moral and social issues surrounding IVF.
Nikas graduated with a BA and MA from the University of Notre Dame and a law degree from Arizona State University.
He lives in Phoenix with his wife. Together they have 5 grown children and a growing number of grandchildren.
If you’re interested in Nikas speaking, please reach out to him directly.
Education
- Arizona State University College of Law, Order of the Coif (J.D.)
- University of Notre Dame (B.A., M.A.)
Admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits
- U.S. District of Arizona
- Arizona State Bar
Publications of Note
- Nikas N.T., Bordlee D., Morena M., Determination of Death and the Dead Donor Rule: A Survey of the Current Law on Brain Death, The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (2016). [link]
- Nikas, Nikolas T., Abortion and Law: Crisis of Reason in Western Jurisprudence, Protection of Human Life in Its Early Stage: Intellectual Foundations and Legal Means, Aleksander Stepkowski, ed., Ad Fontes, Vol. 10 (Peter Lang Edition: 2014). [link]
- Nikas, Nikolas T., Law and Public Policy to Protect Health-Care Rights of Conscience, The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 1 at 41 (Spring 2004). [link]
By BDF-Admin
