Elena Fast

Practice areas

Criminal Defense, Criminal Defense: White Collar, Insurance Coverage, Securities & Corporate Finance

Focus areas

Criminal Law – Federal, Drug & Alcohol Violations, White Collar Crime

Elena Fast is the managing attorney who leads The Fast Law Firm, based in New York City, New York, serving clients in the surrounding areas. Her practice specializes in representing individuals and corporations facing serious federal criminal charges, including but not limited to:

1. Securities and bank fraud
2. Wire and mail fraud
3. Money laundering
4. Federal tax offenses
5. Insurance fraud
6. Cybercrimes
7. Financial crimes
8. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
9. Narcotics and weapons trafficking
10. Murder and violent assaults

Ms. Fast pursued her legal education at New York Law School’s night division, actively participating in moot court. Before law school, she worked in financial roles at State Street Global Advisors and Vicis Capital UK. She graduated first in her class from the College of Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston, with some undergraduate coursework completed at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. She is fluent in Russian.

Over the course of her career, Ms. Fast has served as lead counsel in more than 25 trials, both in federal and state courts. Before establishing her own firm, she was the managing partner at a boutique white-collar law firm on Madison Avenue. Prior to private practice, she gained valuable experience as a felony assistant district attorney at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York, where she handled numerous cases.

During her time at the district attorney’s office, Ms. Fast worked on a wide range of criminal cases and presented over 200 matters to the grand jury. These cases included offenses such as murder, home invasion, kidnapping, grand larceny, robberies, as well as narcotics and firearm possession. She also collaborated with the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on extensive investigations related to identity theft, insurance fraud, bank fraud, and possession of forgery devices.

One of Ms. Fast’s notable cases involved the prosecution of Nikolai Rakossi, also known as the “Russian Rambo,” for a double homicide. This unique case made history in New York as it proceeded to trial in the Russian Federation due to extradition challenges. Ms. Fast worked in conjunction with the Department of Justice and Russian authorities, ultimately resulting in Rakossi’s conviction and a 19-year prison sentence in Russia.

Ms. Fast is highly respected in her field, as demonstrated by her “Superb” Avvo rating and an overall peer-review rating of 4.4/5 on Martindale-Hubbell. Additionally, she holds memberships in prestigious associations, including the First Decade Committee of the Federal Bar Council and the New York Criminal Bar Association.