Michael Perkins

Michael’s greatest passion is criminal defense. From as early as he can remember, he wanted to be a criminal defense attorney. After exiting the real estate industry at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he decided to pursue his longtime dream of counseling and advocating for those subject to criminal prosecution. In the summer of 2022, he second sat Elena Fast in a rape trial in Kings County, that resulted in a 30-minute acquittal. Being embraced by a tearful client upon hearing the jury’s verdict inspired an intense desire to replicate those results for others being charged with crimes. In his second trial, Michael was an integral part of a defense team who secured a verdict of NOT GUILTY on all counts in the high profile “Colonial Rape Case,” a multi-defendant trial in which the jury deliberated for a mere two hours. Michael has since represented clients in trials in the Southern District of New York and on appeals before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the Second Department of the New York State Appellate Division. Michael believes that every person charged with a crime deserves an attorney who will go toe-to-toe with the Government and its vast resources in order to protect their rights. He further believes that a defense attorney must empathize with and understand their Client on a personal, rather than a superficial or transactional level. Perhaps most importantly, he recognizes that all consequences of a criminal conviction are of immense importance, that an effective defense attorney cannot take them lightly, and all defense strategies must be guided accordingly. Michael represents clients charged with crimes in both state and federal court, including: Narcotics and Firearms Trafficking, Murder, Attempted Murder, Rape, Sexual Assault, Arson, Wire Fraud, Burglary, Kidnapping, Assault, Grand Larceny, and Forcible Touching, amongst others. A prodigious motion writer, he secured the dismissal of felony gun charges on speedy trial grounds in Queens County, New York despite there being no sitting Grand Juries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael also wrote and argued the first successful retroactive Youthful Offender Adjudication Motion in Queens County Supreme Court. Michael received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Rutgers University-New Brunswick. He received his Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School, where he also completed the Criminal Law Certificate Program with Distinction. Prior to law school, Michael worked in residential real estate sales with Douglas Elliman and Halstead Manhattan. Michael is admitted to the State Bar of New York, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of New York, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

• Associate Attorney

• Douglas Elliman and Halstead Manhattan

• New York
• U.S. District Court Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court Northern District of New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit