John W. Nields Jr.
John W. Nields Jr. (born September 24, 1942) is an American lawyer known for leading the House Committee’s investigation into the Iran-Contra affair. He grew up in New York City; his father, John Sr., was a lawyer, and his mother was Lila.
Nields went to Yale University and graduated in 1964, then earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1967. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1969 and is also admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.
He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1969 to 1974 and then was a senior law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White from 1974 to 1977. He was the chief prosecutor in the 1980 trial of W. Mark Felt and Edward S. Miller.
In 1987, he was the chief counsel for the House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, which looked into the Iran-Contra affair; he questioned witnesses such as Oliver North. In 1999, he represented Webster Hubbell, who pled guilty to fraud and income tax evasion. He later served as co-chair of the white-collar defense practice at the Howrey firm, and in 2012 he was of counsel at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.
He is married to Gail Tenney Nields. Their daughter, Nerissa Franklin Nields, also attended Yale and married in 1990.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 07:43 (CET).