Practice Areas

Joseph A. Bondy, PLLC represents clients in high-stakes criminal, regulatory, cannabis, and crisis matters. The practice is defined by difficult facts, substantial risk, public scrutiny, and the need for disciplined legal judgment from the outset.

The Office represents cannabis businesses, investors, operators, license applicants, and market participants in matters involving New York cannabis law, licensing strategy, ownership structuring, regulatory planning, business formation, market entry, and enforcement-sensitive disputes.

The work includes entity formation, governance, operating agreements, business plans, community-impact materials, true-party-of-interest issues, compliance planning, banking issues, employment matters, real estate concerns, government-facing strategy, and disputes among owners, investors, partners, landlords, operators, and license holders.

Our perspective is unusual in the field. We bring not only knowledge of the cannabis industry and regulatory landscape, but also substantial experience in criminal defense, public policy, and crisis management. That breadth allows us to help clients build business models that are commercially viable, legally compliant, and resilient under scrutiny.

The Office is available to advise state-licensed medical cannabis businesses evaluating DEA registration to manufacture, distribute, or dispense Schedule III cannabis, including application strategy, license-scope analysis, compliance planning, and federal-state regulatory issues.

Because this registration pathway is new, companies should approach the process carefully. DEA registration may create opportunities for qualifying medical cannabis businesses, but it also raises questions involving state-license authority, premises, inventory, recordkeeping, security, product segregation, federal compliance, tax treatment, and enforcement risk.

The Office represents clients in cannabis business disputes, regulatory investigations, enforcement proceedings, licensing disputes, ownership-control conflicts, investor disputes, contract disputes, and federal matters where commercial, licensing, and criminal exposure may overlap.

Cannabis disputes often move quickly and can affect a company’s license, premises, financing, operations, reputation, and ability to remain in the market. The Office brings experience in cannabis law, criminal defense, regulatory matters, public policy, and crisis management to matters requiring both legal judgment and strategic control.

The Office represents individuals in serious state and federal criminal defense matters, from investigation through trial, sentencing, appeal, forfeiture, and post-conviction litigation.

For more than three decades, Joseph A. Bondy has handled difficult, high-exposure cases involving RICO, murder, narcotics trafficking, bribery, money laundering, securities fraud, wire fraud, campaign-finance issues, false statements, firearms, robbery, loan-sharking, and other complex criminal allegations.

Mr. Bondy maintains an active trial practice and is known for careful preparation, strategic clarity, and effective advocacy under pressure. He is frequently retained in matters where liberty, livelihood, reputation, and public scrutiny may all be at stake.

The Office represents clients in civil, white-collar criminal defense, and administrative matters involving securities fraud, money laundering, campaign-finance issues, public-corruption allegations, false statements, regulatory inquiries, and parallel civil and criminal proceedings.

This work includes representations involving agencies such as the SEC, the FEC, and the PCAOB, as well as matters where criminal exposure, business consequences, professional licensing issues, investor concerns, and reputational risk must be managed at the same time.

Not every important victory occurs at trial. The Office represents clients in federal sentencing proceedings, asset forfeiture matters, appeals, compassionate release applications, resentencing proceedings, supervised-release issues, and other post-conviction litigation.

This work includes Guidelines disputes, mitigation presentations, treaty-related sentencing issues, challenges to excessive loss calculations and role enhancements, and efforts to reduce or limit imprisonment through disciplined motion practice. The Office approaches sentencing as a critical stage of advocacy, not an afterthought.

The Office is available to represent clients in extradition matters, treaty-related sentencing issues, and other international cases involving criminal exposure across borders.

This includes matters involving individuals apprehended abroad, Interpol-related concerns, treaty-transfer issues, foreign detention, cross-border investigations, and representation of Americans detained outside the United States.

Some legal matters do not remain private. The Office represents clients in matters where criminal, regulatory, political, business, licensing, and media pressures converge.

In such cases, sound legal strategy must account not only for what happens in court or before an agency, but also for collateral consequences that can affect a client’s company, license, reputation, investors, employees, family, and future.