Anton Ditchev

When Anton Ditchev arrived in Ithaca, New York, in 1991, he was seven years old and spoke only a little English. Today, Anton Ditchev is a New York criminal defense attorney with fifteen years of experience and the founder of Ditchev Law PLLC. He is also working to establish the New York Bulgarian-American Bar Association, which he notes would be the first such association in the nation.

Early Years

Ditchev was born in Bulgaria in 1983, when the country was under communist rule. His parents, Dimo and Dora, grew up in villages, and both were well educated and ambitious. After communism fell, his father received a grant from NATO to conduct research at Cornell University, and the family, including Ditchev's three-year-old sister, moved to New York. The change was a major culture shock, and he has said that growing up as a young immigrant shaped the way he sees the world.

The family later relocated to Reno, Nevada. There, Ditchev spent his free time in the Sierra Nevada and around Lake Tahoe and worked as a snowboard instructor at Mount Rose Ski Resort. Some summers, he returned to Bulgaria for months at a time to stay with relatives. In 2001, he graduated with honors from McQueen High School.

Philosophy, Music, and Law School

Ditchev studied philosophy at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and wrote his thesis on Wittgenstein and his early works. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in 2005. During college, he also played upright and electric bass, and after graduation he returned to Reno to play with high school friends in a band called Monroe, which performed mostly in Northern California, Reno, and Las Vegas.

In 2007, he moved to New York City to attend Brooklyn Law School. He worked for the Law Office of David Fainkich while in school and joined the Capital Defender Federal Habeas Clinic, helping draft and file a federal habeas petition in a capital case from Alabama. He represented claimants through the Unemployment Action Center and mentored high school students in a moot court program. One summer, he studied abroad in Bologna, Italy, where he hiked and backpacked through the Cinque Terre and visited Lake Como. He earned his Juris Doctor in 2010 and then worked briefly as an investigator-lawyer for Casale Associates, a boutique private investigation firm.

Fifteen Years of Public Defense

Anton Ditchev began his career at The Legal Aid Society in 2011, in the Parole Revocation Defense Unit. He represented people on community supervision who faced re-incarceration, at hearings held at the Rikers Island judicial center, a setting he has described as hard to put into words. Handling those hearings as a young attorney, some involving serious criminal charges, taught him to think on his feet. His work there included investigations, witness interviews, plea negotiations, writs of habeas corpus, and administrative appeals, as well as collaboration with social workers on alternatives to incarceration.

He moved to the New York County Trial Practice in 2014, managing a full caseload in Manhattan and trying multiple cases to verdict. He also helped clients with employment, housing, and immigration issues tied to their cases. In 2017, he became a Senior Trial Attorney in the Queens County Trial Practice, where he represented clients from arrest through plea or verdict in felony and misdemeanor cases, including attempted murder and felony assault cases tried to jury verdict. He litigated suppression hearings and DNA evidence, filed motions to dismiss and motions to controvert search warrants, prepared witnesses for the grand jury, and handled civil forfeiture, OATH, Krimstock, and DMV refusal hearings. He also mentored junior attorneys and taught Continuing Legal Education (CLE) classes.

In the past year, he took three felony weapons charges to trial. Two resulted in acquittals, and the third ended in a mistrial, after which the client was offered a favorable plea. Throughout his career, many of his clients have faced mental health and substance use issues, and he has given them dedicated representation regardless of their circumstances. Ditchev has had no disciplinary complaints, which he attributes to treating his clients with dignity and respect.

A New Chapter

In September 2026, Anton Ditchev began opening his own firm, Ditchev Law PLLC. At the same time, his work on the New York Bulgarian-American Bar Association brings together his legal career and the country where his story began.

Family and Community

Ditchev met his wife, Celena Rodriguez, in 2014 while working at Rikers Island. They married in May 2015 and are raising four children at home on Long Island. He volunteers as a coach with his local soccer club, where he has coached many intramural teams, the U9 travel team, and currently the U13 team. He has volunteered with other local organizations as well, and his family has been active in Scouting. He views his years as a public defender as a form of service, and his family also gives to their parish, Our Lady of Victory in Floral Park, to St. Gregory the Great in New York, and each year to the Salvation Army.

Outside of work, Anton Ditchev enjoys camping, backpacking, hiking, basketball, running and fitness, and jazz. Each summer, the family camps at a beachside campground in eastern Long Island, and they travel to Reno to see his parents and ski and to San Diego to see his sister and surf.