Best New York City Criminal Defense Attorneys

Julie Rendelman is a Manhattan criminal defense lawyer with more than two decades of trial work. She began as an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County. She later became Deputy Chief of the Brooklyn Homicide Bureau. She also taught at Brooklyn Law School.

Her office near Grand Central takes state and federal cases from all five boroughs. Typical matters include:

• Homicide and gun possession
• Sex crimes and domestic violence
• Fraud, money laundering, and other financial crimes

Her goal in each case is a dismissal or a reduced sentence. CNN, PIX11, and The New York Times have featured her legal commentary. Initial consultations are free.

Robert Tsigler leads a NYC criminal defense firm with offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Garden City. His team also covers New Jersey counties such as Bergen, Essex, and Hudson.

Beyond state charges, the firm defends federal cases like RICO, Hobbs Act, and PPP loan charges. Separate groups handle immigration and family law. A client facing deportation risk from an arrest can stay with one firm.

Lawyers pick up the phone day and night and return messages within hours. The firm charges moderate fees and offers payment plans. Avvo and The National Trial Lawyers have both recognized Attorney Tsigler.

Peter H. Tilem is a New York trial attorney and former Manhattan prosecutor. He also worked in the DA's firearms trafficking unit. As a certified NRA instructor, he handles gun licensing hearings and weapons charges.

His White Plains firm, Tilem & Associates, has practiced for more than 25 years. It serves Westchester, Rockland, Nassau, and all of New York City. Criminal work spans homicide, narcotics, and identity theft.

The firm also files Article 78 proceedings that challenge government decisions. Its cases have been covered by CNN and 60 Minutes.

Laura and Warren Sutnick hold board certifications from the New Jersey Supreme Court. Laura is a Certified Criminal Trial Attorney. Warren is a Certified Municipal Court Law Attorney.

The Hackensack criminal defense firm also keeps offices in the Bronx and North Haledon. With attorney Omid S. Irani, the team has represented thousands of clients over three decades. Cases range from municipal summonses to jury trials in federal court.

Practice areas include:

• Drug charges and shoplifting
• Juvenile offenses
• Expungement of criminal records

Staff speaks Spanish, and the phone line runs 24/7.

Elena Fast is a federal criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. Her Midtown team has taken more than 70 cases to verdict. It appears regularly in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Results include a full acquittal in an attempted murder trial. The team also won dismissal of a high-profile rape case. The firm also handles extraditions and cross-border prosecutions. Russian-speaking clients can work with the team in their own language.

Luke Scardigno's Kew Gardens office sits across the street from the Queens County Criminal Courthouse. He has defended clients for more than 30 years in every borough, plus Nassau and Suffolk.

His practice covers DWI, assault, shoplifting, and desk appearance tickets. He also takes on DMV facial recognition cases. For each client, he prepares a written background report for the DA and the court.

Michael Arbeit is a Long Island criminal defense lawyer based in Freeport. He takes misdemeanor and felony cases across Nassau, Suffolk, and New York City.

His firm also fights traffic tickets, license suspensions, and speed contest charges. Attorney Arbeit gives each client a frank early read on the case. He then pushes to have the charges dismissed.

Carl Spector once worked as a prosecutor in New York and New Jersey. He now defends clients from offices in Ridgewood, NJ, and Suffern, NY. He has more than 35 years of experience.

His Bergen County criminal practice covers gun crimes, juvenile cases, and check fraud. It also handles speeding and reckless driving tickets. Former clients note his quick replies to calls and emails.

Michael Paul is a Queens criminal attorney with more than four decades in practice. His Jackson Heights office focuses on weapons and drug possession cases.

He also defends airport arrests at JFK and LaGuardia, often tied to lawfully owned firearms. The phone line is open around the clock, and payment plans are available. The office handles real estate closings too.

Scott Cerbin has won acquittals at trial in each of New York City's five boroughs. He also tried the high-profile People v. Hale case. Cerbin chose law after his own arrest, inspired by the lawyer who defended him.

As a Brooklyn criminal defense lawyer, he handles violent crime, sex crime, and DWI charges. He also files post-conviction motions, appeals, and civil rights claims. Callers speak with him directly, not an assistant.

Kaliopi Vasiliou is an Astoria criminal defense attorney who leads Vasiliou Law. The firm defends assault, theft, and DUI charges, plus probation violations.

Her office also handles immigration, divorce, and estate planning. Staff speak Greek and Spanish.

Todd Spodek is a second-generation defense lawyer whose family firm dates to 1976. Spodek Law Group defended Anna Delvey, the case behind Netflix's Inventing Anna. Its team of criminal defense attorneys in New York City takes state and federal cases nationwide.

Robert Stahl and Laura Gasiorowski run a white-collar defense boutique ranked by Chambers USA. Stahl served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey. The firm defends healthcare fraud, securities, and tax cases from Lower Manhattan and Mountainside, NJ.

Steven Brill started his career as a public defender with the Legal Aid Society. He has since tried many cases to verdict before state and U.S. juries. The firm also handles appeals, false arrest claims, and asset forfeiture in NYC and Long Island.