Contact Us
Victoria Medley, Managing Attorney | vm@zmolaw.com
Press Kit
Lawyers at ZMO Law PLLC are available to reporters seeking an informed legal perspective on a particular case or issue. We encourage members of the media to contact us when looking for analysis of new court rulings, landmark legislation, or industry changes in our practice areas.
ZMO Law PLLC is a criminal defense law firm located in New York City with decades of experience handling sex crimes, civil rights, federal crimes, criminal appeals, and victims rights cases.
History
The Law Office of Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma was founded in 2004 by principal attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma. Associate lawyers Victoria N. Medley and Benjamin Notterman joined the firm in 2018 and 2020, respectively. ZMO Law PLLC was incorporated in late 2020. Former Manhattan prosecutor Tess Cohen joined the firm full-time in the beginning of 2021. Tess took a leave in the spring of 2023 to run for Bronx District Attorney, then returned full time to the firm. Victoria rejoined the firm as part-time managing attorney in the fall of 2023. Over the years dozens of people have worked with us as associates, paralegals, and law student interns and have gone on to successful legal careers.
We are located in New York City.
Our attorneys are admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and the federal courts for the Southern, Eastern, Northern and Western Districts of New York, the District of New Jersey, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Third Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Our attorneys are graduates of New York University School of Law, Columbia Law School, and Brooklyn Law School.
Our staff currently includes four attorneys and two paralegals.
We collaborate with well-known law firms and legal organizations such as the Innocence Project, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Law Offices of Daniel A. McGuinness, P.C., the New York City Bar Association and others.
To schedule your initial consultation, please fill out the form below.
Notable Cases
The exoneration of James Pugh, who was wrongfully convicted of murdering a young mother in 1993. The case against Mr. Pugh was dismissed after ZMO Law attorneys uncovered numerous discovery violations by the prosecution.
A “lenient” sentence (as described by the New York Times) for an African tribesman accused of conspiring to smuggle drugs across the Sahara Desert for Al Qaeda at the behest of an alleged Colombian narco-terrorist group. Featured in The New Yorker.
The exoneration of Antonio Yarborough, who served almost 22 years for a triple homicide he did not commit. Mr. Yarbough and the family of his co-defendant received a combined total of more than $30 million in compensation for their wrongful convictions.
Clemency and exoneration for Felipe Rodriguez, who was wrongly incarcerated for 27 years after “a miscarriage of justice.”
Executive clemency in 2020 for a mother of two who had been sentenced to 13 years for a robbery.
A 2015 appellate case, Crawford v. Cuomo, that established the principle that all sexual contact of an inmate by a corrections officer is “cruel and unusual punishment” in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Trial acquittals for defendants accused of homicide, child pornography, rape, sexual abuse, official misconduct, and other charges (past results are no guarantee of future outcomes).
Mission
ZMO Law PLLC is a client-centered, trial-ready law practice. Our firm is committed to listening, investigating, and understanding our clients’ legal problems, and offering advice only after thoroughly understanding all aspects of the case and charges. Our attorneys are always prepared to take a case to trial or oppose a prosecutor in court. We do not negotiate from a position of weakness and work to ensure the best possible results for our clients, whether or not a trial proves necessary.