Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Nies received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1946.
She received a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1948, graduating Order of the Coif.
[2] Nies was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on May 9, 1980, to a seat on the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals vacated by Judge Donald Edward Lane.
[2] Nies was reassigned by operation of law on October 1, 1982, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 96 Stat.
[2] She died on August 7, 1996, her 71st birthday, of head injuries sustained in a bicycle crash, in Lewes, Delaware.