Why These New York City Criminal Lawyers?
We help connect consumers with top-rated criminal defense attorneys in New York City. To determine which are the best of the best, we scored each criminal defense attorney or law firm across a half-dozen metrics covering three categories. Each firm or attorney’s results were analyzed to bring you a handpicked list of the very best criminal defense lawyers in New York City.
- Attorneys reviewed: 15
- Top picks: 5
If you or a loved one have been arrested, do not delay seeking the assistance of an attorney. The sooner an attorney can get involved in your case, the better your chances of having a strong defense.
The attorney you hire may start right away, studying the authorities’ against you, doing legal research, and preparing legal motions. That’s why the sooner they begin, the better, as they work to chip away at the prosecution’s case against you.
Skilled criminal defense attorneys in New York City handle everything from DUIs to simple misdemeanors to white-collar crimes to violent felonies. Get the best legal defense in New York City by choosing from this list of best criminal defense attorneys.
Read the profiles below and choose the attorney or law firm that best aligns with your needs.
Best New York City Criminal Defense Lawyers
Here are the best criminal defense law firms and attorneys in New York City:
- Spodek Law Group
- The Law Offices of Julie Rendelman
- The Blanch Law Firm
- Law Offices of Robert Tsigler
- The Law Offices of Jeffrey Lichtman
Best New York City Criminal Defense Lawyers for 2021
If you or a loved one are looking for an outstanding criminal defense attorney in New York City, these lawyers are the best of the best.
Spodek Law Group
85 Broad St 30th Floor,
New York, NY 10004
Phone: 888-742-6939
Spodek Law Group’s three primary attorneys have a combined 50 years of legal experience, including federal and state cases related to areas like white-collar crime, drug or weapons offenses, fraud, misdemeanors, and more.
One unique benefit of pursuing your legal defense via Spodek Law Group is that the firm is one of the few in New York to be completely paperless. Clients use an online portal to review and organize documents, monitor the status of their case, and communicate with their legal team. This allows a constant flow of communication so clients are never in the dark about what’s happening.
Visit law firm website: https://www.nyccriminalattorneys.com/
Visit law firm Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Nydivorcelawyer/
The Law Offices of Julie Rendelman
535 Fifth Avenue #2525
New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 951-1232
This two-person law firm founded by former prosecutor Julie Rendelman specializes in a variety of criminal defense areas, including assault, DUI, drug charges, homicide, and more. Rendelman has been named one of the top 100 trial lawyers in the U.S. for the past half-decade, and she’s listed in the top 1 percent by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.
Rendelman practices with legal partner Kristen Epifania, and the pair are frequent commentators and analysts in the national and New York news, illustrating their expertise in a wide range of criminal legal matters.
Visit law firm website: https://www.rendelmanlaw.com/
Visit law firm Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Rendelmanlaw/
The Blanch Law Firm
261 Madison Avenue, Floor 12
New York, NY 10016
Phone: (212) 736-3900
The Blanch Law Firm began its life as a small firm, but it has since grown to an expansive, expert criminal defense firm with six attorneys working on behalf of clients in New York City and across the country. Among its many unique assets includes a team approach in which every defendant has the benefit of multiple lawyers being assigned to their case.
Specialty areas include assault and other violent crimes, robbery, drug trafficking, fraud, manslaughter and murder, as well as criminal appeals at the state and federal level. Blanch attorneys are also experts in white collar criminal cases, successfully defending clients in recent money laundering, antitrust, and embezzlement cases.
Visit law firm website: https://www.theblanchlawfirm.com/
Visit law firm Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/theblanchlawfirm/
Law Offices of Robert Tsigler
299 Broadway, Suite 1400, New York, New York 10007
Phone: (718) 878-3781
With three offices in the New York area, including Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, Robert Tsigler’s firm has the entire city covered. This firm of five primary attorneys handles criminal cases including assault, theft, fraud, DUI, drug and gun possession, and more.
In addition to criminal defense, the firm’s attorneys specialize in immigration cases, helping deserving individuals remain in the country by being granted asylum or having their deportation proceedings halted.
Visit law firm website: https://www.tsiglerlaw.com/
Visit law firm Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Tsiglerlaw/
The Law Offices of Jeffrey Lichtman
11 E 44th St,
#501
New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 581-1001
Attorney Jeffrey Lichtman has more than three decades of legal experience, and his law firm, which includes two other primary attorneys, has successfully defended clients in tax fraud, extortion, assault, bribery, kidnapping, DUI, and more.
Major cases Lichtman’s firm has handled include high-profile defenses of John A. Gotti, accused drug kingpin El Chapo, and musicians like The Game and Fat Joe. Lichtman’s firm has also won successful criminal appeals on behalf of wrongly convicted people.
Visit law firm website: https://jeffreylichtman.com/
Visit law firm YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ569DbYQ3tPep5BMEdrlzQ
What Types of Crimes Are Most Common in New York?
About 170,000 crimes were reported in New York City in 2019, the most recent year for federal data on crime across the country. Like elsewhere across the country, property crimes are considerably more common in New York than violent crimes. Of the 170,000 incidents reported in 2019, 72 percent of them were property crime with larceny-theft alone accounting for 63 percent.
Given that it’s the largest city in the country, it’s easy to understand why New York City would be the home of so many crimes, but on a population-adjusted basis, the city has lower-than-average property crime compared to the rest of the country. Still, its violent crime rate is higher than the overall U.S. rate. New York’s population-adjusted violent crime rate is about 570 per 100,000 people, while its property crime rate is just under 1,500 per 100,000. That compares with a national violent crime rate of 367 per 100,000 people and a property crime rate of about 2,100 per 100,000.dow
Crimes in New York, by number and per 100,000 people
|
Crime |
Number |
Per 100,000 people |
|
All violent crimes |
47,821 |
571 |
|
Murder |
319 |
4 |
|
Rape |
2,770 |
33 |
|
Robbery |
13,396 |
160 |
|
Aggravated assault |
31,336 |
374 |
|
All property crimes |
122,299 |
1,460 |
|
Burglary |
9,846 |
118 |
|
Larceny-theft |
106,931 |
1,276 |
|
Motor vehicle theft |
5,522 |
66 |
Though New York City is many times larger than the next-biggest city in New York state, its population-adjusted crime rates tend to be on the lower side. Compared to the 10 biggest cities in the state, New York City ranks no higher than fifth for any crime type, coming in fifth place for its overall violent crime rate and in each individual violent crime category. (Buffalo ranks first in the majority of crime categories.) The city also compares favorably to other major U.S. cities and metro areas, ranking in the top 15 for just two crime categories — overall violent crime (12th) and robbery (10th).
New York, like many other major American cities, experienced a decline in crime overall as a result of the pandemic. However, as in many other cities, violent crimes like homicide and aggravated assault rose. The number of murders in the city climbed by 44 percent, though crime as a whole fell. So far in 2021, murders and shootings have both declined, which could signal a return to lower crime rates.
It’s important to note that police- and FBI-reported data does not cover closed cases or incidents for which a person was convicted.