- Divorce
- Child Support
- Child Custody and Visitation
- Premarital Agreement
- Spousal Support
- Criminal DefenseRovshan Sharifov is an experienced Criminal Defense Attorney in New York, a former prosecutor. Mr. Sharifov has been practicing criminal law for over 20 years. Mr. Sharifov is the founder and principal of Sharifov & Associates, PLLC. Prior to that, Mr. Sharifov was a Managing Partner and Co-founder of Sharifov & Russell, LLP, a criminal defense law firm. Prior to that, in August 2002, Mr. Sharifov was appointed Assistant District Attorney by the Honorable Denis Dillon, District Attorney of Nassau County. Mr. Sharifov continued his service after Honorable Kathleen M. Rice became the DA of Nassau County.
- DUI/DWIFinally, we would like to mention that both arrest and conviction carry negative collateral consequences in employment, professional licensing, and immigration field, among others. For example, we have numerous clients who work as a Home Health Aide (“HHA”) suspended from work based on the arrest alone. The same is true for taxi drivers who carry TLC licenses. Any immigration application will have to wait until the resolution of the criminal case. In the case of DWI and some other charges, the defendant’s driver's license gets suspended. The same is true for CDL for truck drivers. Certain charges, especially domestic violence, carry mandatory Order of Protection. Dependent on the disposition of the case, there may be final Order of Protection for a specific period of time, excluding the defendant from the home of the complaining witness, even though the defendant may be the owner of that home. While even arrest carries collateral consequences, a criminal conviction may have devastating effects on the defendant, the most obvious for the non-citizen being deportation. For others, criminal conviction, especially the one for a felony, may bring permanent disqualification from certain employment and serious enhancement of sentence and charges in case of new arrest in the future. This is why it is extremely important to clearly understand the plea agreement and its potential consequences before pleading guilty. It is very hard to withdraw or vacate the plea and sentence once the case is over.
- FraudAs a former prosecutor in the Nassau County District Attorney's Office, Mr. Sharifov has gained valuable insight into the workings of the New York justice system. Mr. Sharifov has experience in handling all types of criminal charges, from misdemeanors to felonies, drug crimes, weapon charges, white collar crimes, robbery, burglary, mortgage and insurance fraud, Medicaid and Medicare fraud, money laundering, bank fraud and conspiracy, grand larcenies, petit larcenies, embezzlement, DWI/DUI, suspended licenses and many other areas of criminal law. Mr. Sharifov also participated in the training for Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST), which was sponsored by the Nassau County Police Department. As a prosecutor, Mr. Sharifov tried multiple cases to verdict ranging from felonies to misdemeanors, including DWI.
- Robbery
- Burglary
- White Collar CrimesThe third scenario is rather rare and relates to some serious investigations by police and District Attorney’s office, involving felony charges and Grand Jury presentment. It is often the case with so-called white-collar crimes, related to various frauds. Under that scenario, police and other law enforcement agencies conduct their investigation and work closely with the District Attorney’s office, whose role is to prosecute criminal cases in Court. Prosecutor presents their witnesses to the Grand Jury, which determines if there is enough reason to continue felony prosecution. Felony is a crime for which more than one-year imprisonment is a potential sentence. If Grand Jury votes by the majority of Jurors to indict the defendant, the Judge will issue an arrest warrant. Alternatively, the arrest warrant may be issued by the Judge based on the felony complaint and sworn testimony of the police officer or other law-enforcement agent. Once the police have an arrest warrant, they can arrest the defendant anywhere, including in his residence, and may forcibly enter the residence of the defendant if needed.
- MisdemeanorsThere are generally two types of arrests. In one case, when charged with low-level misdemeanor or violation, and not domestic violence crime, the officer has the discretion to issue Desk Appearance Ticket (“DAT”) upon the booking of the defendant in the local precinct. DAT directs the defendant to appear in the local Criminal Court on a particular date. Sometimes, fingerprinting is not done initially, and the defendant is directed to go to the police to get fingerprinted before his DAT date. (This is usually the practice on Long Island, but not in New York City). Another type of arrest requires holding the defendant until he or she sees the Judge.
- Embezzlement
- Drug CrimesIt is important to mention, that when charged with a low-level offense such as a misdemeanor or violation, police may issue a Desk Appearance Ticket (“DAT”), and upon processing in a local police precinct, let the arrestee go and advise him or her to appear in a local criminal court on a particular date. Sometimes police has a discretion with respect to issuing DAT. Such examples are: misdemeanor assault (only if strangers), petit larceny, drug possession, trespass, possession of stolen property, driving with suspended license/registration, hit and run, etc. Therefore, it is important, while not making any admission or giving a statement, to otherwise cooperate with an arresting officer, provide police with a correct name and address and not to resist an arrest. In cases, such as most DWI (unless arrested by a state trooper), domestic violence misdemeanors, and most of felonies, a police officer does not have the discretion to issue DAT and will send an arrestee to central booking upon processing.
- Assault
- Money Laundering
- Hit and Run
- Corporate Law
- Business Disputes
- Employment Contract
- Landlord-Tenant Disputes
- Citizenship and Naturalization
- Family Immigration
- Employment Immigration
- Green Cards
- Business Immigration
- Student Visas
- Investor Visas
- Personal Injury
- Medical Malpractice
- Auto Accidents