Walnut Creek Magazine - Straightforward, sincere and unstoppable, Nadia Costa is a serial optimist. The 43-year-old land use attorney at the Walnut Creek offices of Miller, Starr, Regalia is a shareholder in the firm and co-chair of their Land Use Practice Group.

Known for her community activism and pro bono work for the Concord-based domestic violence organization, STAND! For Families Free of Violence, Costa uses her expertise to promote social justice both inside and beyond the courtroom. Most notable is her successful, seven-year legal battle with fellow attorney Joshua Safran to secure the freedom of Deborah Peagler, an incarcerated domestic abuse victim. The story is told in the Sundance-aired documentary film, “Crime after Crime.”