Andrew Olesnycky Esq. - Westfield, NJ

Overview

Andrew Olesnycky, the former head of the Union County Prosecutor's Office's Domestic Violence Unit, joined Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers in August of 2015. During his nearly five-year tenure with the Union County Prosecutor's Office, Mr. Olesnycky tried numerous felony cases involving robbery, aggravated assault, gun possession, narcotics offenses, large-scale theft, and fraud. Mr. Olesnycky is one of very few criminal trial attorneys in private practice who has served as a domestic violence supervisor in a county prosecutor's office, and represents those accused of domestic violence in criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings, as well as victims of domestic violence seeking restraining orders in family court. His trials and prosecutions have been covered by media outlets including the New York Times, CBS This Morning, NBC4 New York, the Associated Press, the Boston Globe, NJ.com, the Star Ledger, and ESPN.

Since entering private practice, Mr. Olesnycky has served as lead attorney defending charges of first-degree attempted murder, prescription drug conspiracy, sexual assault, interference with custody, corporate theft, and Superstorm Sandy-related fraud in New Jersey State Superior Courts. Through diligence, creativity, and aggressive litigation, he has secured a number of dismissals for his clients, including charges for attempted murder, sexual assault, interference with custody, and theft charges where conviction would have resulted in a client's deportation. Mr. Olesnycky is proud to have won dismissal of baseless criminal domestic violence charges filed against a victim of domestic violence by her abuser, and has successfully defended against domestic violence charges in numerous courts throughout the state.

Mr. Olesnycky has also developed a robust federal criminal defense practice. He is currently litigating a multi-defendant wire fraud conspiracy in federal court and has been appointed by the District of New Jersey to serve on the Criminal Justice Act Panel of Private Attorneys. He was part of a defense team that secured the dismissal of murder-for-hire charges in federal court in the Southern District of New York and an outright dismissal of health care fraud charges against a dentist accused of performing unnecessary procedures. Much of Mr. Olesnycky's time is dedicated to the defense of medical and medical laboratory professionals facing allegations of illegal referrals or fraud in both State and Federal courts.

As supervisor of the Domestic Violence Unit at the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, Mr. Olesnycky bore ultimate responsibility for the investigation and prosecution of every complaint of domestic violence in Union County. He was responsible for training new assistant prosecutors; supervising all investigations, indictments and trials within the unit; coordinating rearming decisions for police officers accused of domestic violence; administering a 24-hour on-call domestic violence hotline for police officers; and training police officers in domestic violence law. In addition to his supervisory responsibilities, Mr. Olesnycky continued to personally prosecute a significant docket of domestic violence cases that included attempted murders, aggravated assaults, kidnappings, interference with custody, stalking, and gun crimes. Among the high-visibility cases he handled was a nationally-followed case involving an NFL player who shared nude photos of his estranged girlfriend on the Internet.

As a certified domestic violence law instructor at the John H. Stamler Police Academy, Mr. Olesnycky has lectured on domestic violence to new recruits as well as experienced investigators from law enforcement agencies throughout the state. He has served as a moderator of a statewide domestic violence symposium and attended domestic-violence specific training at state and national conferences.

A cum laude graduate of the Rutgers School of Law in Newark, Mr. Olesnycky served as a law clerk to the Honorable Rudy B. Coleman (retired) in the Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court, and as an intern for the Honorable Joseph A. Greenaway in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. During law school, Mr. Olesnycky worked as a summer associate at Latham Watkins in Newark and as an intern in the legal department of the New Jersey Highlands Council.

Mr. Olesnycky was also recently appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court to serve as a member of the District VC (West Essex) Attorney Ethics Panel.