VANGUARD
LAWOFFICE
What Vanguard Does. Due to the breadth of experience of its attorneys, the firm is able to assist clients with an assortment of legal and professional needs. These include: representation in criminal and regulatory investigations, subpoenas, or prosecutions; reporting of crimes or complaints of misconduct, whether to the government or within schools or places of employment; negotiating, mediating, or litigating civil disputes at all stages; reviewing, drafting, and advising on various contracts and commercial agreements; and assisting licensed professionals, such as in medicine, law, or finance, facing potentially damaging accusations.
History of the Firm. Vanguard Law Office PLLC is a minority and woman-owned law firm based in New York City. It was founded in 2016 (recognized in New York in 2020) by Rachna Shah (image, adjacent), a Harvard Law School graduate with significant state and federal litigation experience as well as a robust negotiation and mediation practice. Since then, Vanguard Law Office has enlisted seasoned attorneys in New York and has partnered with numerous law firms to provide counsel in disputes, lawsuits, and deals in several states in addition to New York, including California, Florida, Texas, Missouri, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia. The firm’s attorneys have also provided behind-the-scenes strategy and consulting in high-profile disputes abroad, including working with foreign counsel and press for cases in Canada, Israel, Australia, the UK, and the Caribbean.
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Civil/Employment
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The success of Vanguard Law Office’s civil practice is due to its attorneys' many years of practical experience in all stages of civil litigation on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants throughout the country. The firm supports clients who wish to utilize alternative dispute resolution to resolve disputes outside of public and costly litigation and regularly assists individuals and companies in privately negotiating favorable settlement terms before either party ever sees the inside of a courtroom. Where litigation is preferred or otherwise unavoidable, the firm fights vigorously, thoroughly, and creatively on behalf of its clients seeking vindication through trial before a judge or jury.
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Types of Matters. Vanguard Law Office attorneys have worked on both sides of the ‘v.’ in various civil lawsuits, including personal injury, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, breach of contract, debt collection, enforcement of judgment, assault/battery, conversion, and defamation. The firm’s attorneys have also assisted with lawsuits against the government, including a high-profile wrongful death suit and police brutality cases, or matters initiated by government agencies or non-profits, including disciplinary or termination hearings within the NYPD, MTA, DOE, or schools/universities and other non-profits. The firm successfully negotiates on behalf of clients frequently, and preemptively, most often related to employment (including negotiating compensation/equity, severance, or settlement of potential claims such as discrimination or failure to promote) and breach of contract (including demands for payment for unpaid services and cease and desists), as well as other agreements, from tenant/sublease contracts to high-emotion negotiations regarding personal or business divorce.​
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Professional Threats. The firm represents licensed professionals, including attorneys, physicians, real estate professionals, and those in the financial services industries, against accusations of professional misconduct ranging from ethics or malpractice complaints to insider trading, market manipulation, fraud, commingling of funds, and other internal investigations in private institutions.
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False and Extortive Accusations. The attorneys at Vanguard Law Office understand that, at times, the threat of criminal or professional consequences is unfortunately used for the wrong reasons, damaging the needs of real victims everywhere. The firm has helped its clients, from BigTech employees, attorneys, students, and small business owners to CEOs of public companies, private companies, and non-profits, get ahead of and seek justice against false or otherwise extortive accusations. The firm is uniquely capable of providing a coordinated response from both its criminal and civil practices, preserving proper criminal rights and defenses while issuing cease and desists/demand letters, and, when necessary, bringing lawsuits for defamation and other harms resulting from clearly false and vexatious accusations. This aggressive, principled approach against extortive threats has resulted in multiple clients paying nothing in settlement -- even when a lawsuit was already brought against them. (Note: Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.)
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Record of Success. The success of Vanguard Law Office’s criminal defense practice is owed to its attorneys’ collective experience in hundreds of criminal investigations and prosecutions in Manhattan and Brooklyn, from the county and state levels to federal. The firm regularly responds to subpoenas and has successfully negotiated with the NYPD, FBI, and prosecutors (including Assistant District Attorneys, Assistant Deputy Attorney Generals, and Assistant United States Attorneys) to close and seal investigations, dismiss cases, and even prevent charges that were otherwise imminent from ever being filed. When charges are unavoidable, the firm focuses on negotiating for the reduction of charges (from felonies to misdemeanors or misdemeanors to violations) and securing pleas that result in no criminal record for the client. When trial is inevitable, the firm’s attorneys put the government to work, having successfully obtained acquittals on serious felonies with thorough motion practice and forceful jury arguments to exonerate the accused both inside and outside the courtroom. (Note: Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.)
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Types of Matters. The firm has successfully counseled clients in a wide array of criminal matters, including accusations of rape and sexual assault, physical assault (including domestic violence), harassment, revenge porn, drug possession, vehicular offenses (including DUI and speeding), criminal contempt (including for violation of order of protection), protest charges (from trespass and unlawful assembly to terrorism) and economic crimes (including money laundering, tax fraud, and mail/wire fraud). The firm has also been brought onto high profile cases outside New York, resulting in acquittals, favorable pleas, and dismissals, even in charges as serious as manslaughter or weapons.
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Regulatory Investigations. The firm handles compliance advice, inquiries, and investigations from regulatory agencies at the state and federal level. For individual clients, this is often related to tax and finance inquiries, including investigations by the SEC, DOJ, or FINRA, but has also included representation to licensing agencies like the DMV and DOS. For corporate clients, this has included probes specific to a client’s business, such as its sale of alcohol, collection of sales tax, unauthorized gambling, or labor law violations, and much more.
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Victim Representation and Disciplinary Hearings. The firm represents clients seeking to report crimes or misconduct, to help preserve their privacy as needed and protect them from harassment or retaliatory conduct. This has included official reports to law enforcement as well as complaints made within educational institutions, places of employment, and non-profit organizations. The firm also regularly assists students and faculty in disciplinary and academic/probation hearings at universities and workplaces, including in Title IX matters.
Criminal Practice
Request a Consultation
To request a free, brief consultation from Vanguard Law Office, please send a message through the form below. Submission of this form does not guarantee a response.
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If your matter is urgent, or you wish to discuss your options on a call with an attorney at the firm, you may request a prepaid consultation by sending an email to the address below with the subject line "Book a Session" to schedule an immediate appointment.
Contact Us
Phone:
917-409-8350
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Mailing Address
(please email first):
Vanguard Law Office PLLC
149 East 23rd Street #334
New York, New York 10159