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Scott Bookstein spent the better part of a decade prosecuting the Bronx’s most serious cases — years of them in the DA’s elite Major Case Unit, ultimately at supervising rank — before crossing Queens Boulevard, literally: his solo practice sits directly opposite the Queens Criminal Courthouse, where he has defended for more than twenty-five years, with trial verdicts he describes as running from kilo-weight marijuana cases to murder.
At a Glance
| Firm | Scott Bookstein, PLLC |
| Principal Attorney | Scott L. Bookstein |
| Office | 125-10 Queens Boulevard, Suite 323, Kew Gardens, NY 11415 — opposite the Queens Criminal Courthouse |
| Focus | Criminal defense across the severity spectrum — drug cases including major-weight and marijuana matters, weapons possession, assault, robbery and theft, domestic violence, DWI, sex-offense allegations, probation and parole violations, through homicide — with white-collar capability |
| Background | Former New York City supervising prosecutor: Supervising Assistant District Attorney, Bronx District Attorney’s Office, including years in its Major Case Unit, over roughly a decade of service; private defense practice for more than 25 years since |
| Admissions | New York (1991) |
| Education | J.D., Brooklyn Law School (1990) |
| Memberships | New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (since 2000); Queens County Bar Association (since 1998) |
| Fee Structure | By consultation; clients report responsiveness at all hours |
Career History
Bookstein graduated Brooklyn Law School in 1990, was admitted in 1991, and built his formation inside the Bronx District Attorney’s Office over the better part of a decade — service that peers independently corroborate, with one endorsing attorney recounting years of watching him successfully try violent-crime cases in the office’s elite Major Case Unit, and his supervising rank documented in his professional history. He then converted that formation into a Queens defense practice that has now run more than twenty-five years from the courthouse corridor, earning Super Lawyers selections from 2022 through 2025 and long-standing membership in the state defense bar and the Queens County Bar Association.
Practice Concentration
The practice covers the full criminal docket with the emphases his prosecutorial history predicts: serious violent felonies, major drug cases — including a marijuana-law concentration that spans the severity range — weapons, DWI, domestic violence, and probation and parole matters, through homicide. His stated philosophy is personalized service: every client and case treated as unique, with creative, aggressive, goal-oriented lawyering and a commitment to keeping clients informed of every development and option — a promise his review record specifically corroborates. The courthouse-opposite location embeds the practice in the daily rhythm of the borough’s criminal courts.
Track Record
Bookstein describes a proven trial record with winning verdicts on cases ranging from kilo-weight marijuana prosecutions to murder — a self-characterization consistent with, though not itemized like, the peer accounts of his Major Case Unit trial history. We attribute the defense-side verdict record as the attorney’s own; no itemized dispositions ledger is published, and this research did not independently verify individual outcomes. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case.
Client Voice
The review record is strong and specific. One client, celebrating a DWI acquittal, compares the result to “hitting a jackpot”; another calls him the best lawyer they have ever hired, describing counsel who answers day or night, weekends included, with passionate, professional advocacy. The peer record is equally direct: fellow attorneys describe an excellent, thorough advocate they would trust with any felony charge, and confer with him on Queens criminal matters as a practice. This research did not surface any public disciplinary findings.
Beyond the Courtroom
Bookstein’s quarter century of continuous practice at the same courthouse corridor, his decades-long institutional memberships in the Queens County Bar Association and the state defense bar, and the peer-consultation role fellow attorneys describe — the lawyer other lawyers call on Queens criminal questions — constitute his professional community footprint.
Recognition
Sorting per our standard: the supervising-prosecutor rank and Major Case Unit service are substantive, peer-corroborated career credentials — the weightiest recognition here; the Super Lawyers selections (2022–2025) are peer-informed recognition from a commercial publication; and the “Top 100 National Trial Lawyers” membership he cites is a marketing-program designation, which we label as such. A disclosure we apply to every New York profile: New York State does not operate a board certification program for legal specialties comparable to the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, so no New York attorney profile on this site will describe its subject as a state-certified specialist, and this profile attributes no certification to Bookstein.
New York Legal Backdrop
A New York criminal case moves on statutory clocks that defendants rarely know exist. After arrest, arraignment generally must occur within about twenty-four hours; a felony defendant held on bail must be released under CPL § 180.80 if the prosecution fails to secure grand jury action within the statutory period (120 hours, or 144 hours spanning a weekend or holiday). CPL § 30.30 sets speedy-trial clocks — six months on most felonies, ninety days on class A misdemeanors — and New York’s discovery reform, CPL Article 245, obligates prosecutors to turn over their evidence on an automatic timetable. CPL § 160.59 permits sealing of up to two eligible convictions after ten crime-free years. Marijuana law deserves its own note: New York’s 2021 legalization resealed and expunged many past convictions automatically, but weight-based and sale offenses remain chargeable, and the interaction of old records with the new regime is exactly where experienced counsel earns its keep. Queens felonies are tried in Queens County Supreme Court, steps from this office. None of this is legal advice; consult a licensed New York attorney about your situation.
Awesome Attorneys Assessment
The case for Bookstein is supervising-prosecutor formation applied at street level: Major Case Unit trial experience corroborated by peers who watched it, a quarter century of courthouse-corridor Queens defense practice, full-severity coverage from marijuana matters through homicide, current Super Lawyers standing, and a client-service record — reachability, candor, communication — that his reviews document unusually consistently.
The honest trade-offs, stated plainly: this is a solo practice, with the capacity limits that implies for sprawling multi-defendant matters; the defense-side verdict record is self-described rather than itemized; the marquee trial history dates substantially to his prosecutorial years; one cited affiliation is a marketing-program membership, labeled above; and the consumer-review base, while emphatic, is modest in volume.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys in August 2026 without the participation, sponsorship, or payment of Scott Bookstein, PLLC. Primary sources: the attorney’s professional self-description as published on Lawyer Legion (the supervising-prosecutor history; the decade of DA service; the 25-plus-year defense tenure; the verdict-range characterization attributed above; the personalized-service philosophy; bar-membership dates; office contact details). Independent verification: Super Lawyers profiles (Brooklyn Law School 1990; 1991 admission; the 2022–2025 selections; the Suite 323 office address); Avvo profile (the Supervising Assistant District Attorney work history; the peer endorsements corroborating the Bronx DA Major Case Unit trial record; the client reviews quoted in Client Voice); Lawyer.com and Cornell LII listings (experience tenure; practice designations including marijuana law); Lawful directory listing (practice scope). The National Trial Lawyers designation is labeled as a marketing program per our standard. Statutes cited in the New York Legal Backdrop were verified against the New York Criminal Procedure Law (§§ 30.30, 160.59, 180.80, and Article 245).
Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice
Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal-directory publisher. This profile was not paid for by Scott Bookstein, PLLC, and inclusion in our editorial coverage cannot be purchased. Our methodology and editorial standards are applied consistently across all firms we cover.