Nicholas Arciniegas
(From LinkedIn)
You might think that Nicholas Arciniegas, with his interest in legal work that involves high-level secrecy and discreetness, would be smart enough to stay away from a site like Ashley Madison. But you would be wrong.
Arciniegas appears to be a child of privilege who thinks he can build an impressive resume while getting away with immature and risky actions in his personal life. He certainly appears to come from an accomplished family.
Arciniegas has not responded to our questions, so his roots are a bit uncertain. But a check of public records indicates the following: His father is Joaquin Arciniegas, M.D., a physician with Alabama Cardiovascular Group, an affiliate of Grandview Health. His brother, Daniel Eduardo Arciniegas, is an attorney with Wiggins Childs Pantazis Fisher and Goldfarb, the largest employment-discrimination and civil-rights law firm in Alabama.
Nicholas Arciniegas graduated from Birmingham-Southern College in 2009 and completed a degree at Samford's Cumberland School of Law in 2013. He worked briefly in the clerk's office at Wiggins Childs and served as a law clerk in the Alabama Attorney General's Office, under Luther Strange. While in college, Arciniegas served as an intern in the U.S. House of Representatives for Spencer Bachus.
Arciniegas has earned certificates related to intelligence and homeland security from a number of institutions, including Johns Hopkins, the Naval Postgraduate School, and the London School of Economics.
As a lawyer, Arciniegas has worked for LDiscovery LLC, Tower Legal Solutions, and the D.C. firm of Rodriguez and Sanabria. before working three months at World Bank Group. He now appears to have his own solo practice, focusing primarily on immigration law.
Arciniegas' account at Ashley Madison has the address of 4924 Old Leeds Road in Mountain Brook, which is the address for Dr. Joaquin Arciniegas. Was Nicholas Arciniegas trying to disguise his identity or was he living at home at the time? It's not clear and, and he has not responded to our queries for this article.
Based on public records available to us, Nicholas Arciniegas' marital status is unclear; he appears to be single.
Perhaps the biggest question is this: How could an ambitious young lawyer, building a career in intelligence and national security, compromise himself by signing up for Ashley Madison? Has that information become known in the D.C. legal community and already had a negative impact on the trajectory of his career.
Building a snazzy resume seems to be Nicholas Arciniegas' primary accomplishment so far, and that probably isn't hard to do when money is no object, and you were born with a silver foot in your mouth.
As for genuine accomplishment, it's hard to find any -- other than making the dubious choice to join Ashley Madison.
