Criminal Defense

The office’s criminal defense practice encompasses a wide variety of criminal matters, ranging from state court misdemeanors and felonies to complex federal narcotics trafficking cases and white collar offenses.  In addition to our trial work, we also handle post-conviction proceedings, such as expungements and motions to seal arrest records. Our clientele has included both individual and corporate defendants charged with various offenses such as alien smuggling, money laundering, mail fraud, health care fraud, sex offenses, bankruptcy and bank fraud, import-export violations, and income tax evasion. Whether handling a multi-million dollar fraud case or a driving under the influence charge, we go about our case preparation the same way.

Our approach to criminal defense is multi-faceted, and we often retain the services of outside experts, investigators, and other consultants to help develop defense strategies and to prepare the case for trial. We also believe in an aggressive use of pretrial motions in order to help clarify issues, limit evidence, and eliminate baseless charges. Finally, even while preparing a case for trial, we believe it is important to never lose focus of sentencing issues which, in many cases, are the most important consideration in the entire case.  For this reason, we believe that frequent settlement discussions are a vital component of any comprehensive defense strategy.   At the same time, we subscribe to the philosophy that the best way to obtain a favorable settlement for our clients is by thoroughly preparing each case for trial.

Being arrested and charged with a crime is one of the most stressful events which can happen in a person’s life. Even a minor criminal case may trigger serious and worrisome questions like: Will I go to jail? Will I lose my job? Will I lose my drivers license? Will this arrest stay on my record? How will this affect my immigration status? Will I have to report this incident on my college application? One of our primary jobs as your attorney is to educate you about both the legal and practical risks and consequences presented in each case, alleviating unnecessary anxieties.

Of course, every criminal case contains an element of uncertainty; our job is to help make sense of those uncertainties so that our clients can make the most informed decision possible about how to proceed in their individual situation.  We are experienced in a variety "quasi-criminal" matters, including those involving civil forfeitures, DMV license suspensions, school expulsions, and professional license revocations or suspensions. We call these cases "quasi-criminal" because, although not criminal in the legal sense, they often involve serious and long-term deprivations of liberty.  In fact, often these types of court and administrative law cases carry consequences which have a far greater impact on people’s day-to-day lives than criminal cases. For this reason, we approach these quasi-criminal matters with the same degree of urgency as we would a criminal case.