Elena Jaffe Tastensen began her legal career in 1998 as an Assistant District Attorney at the New York County District Attorney's Office in Manhattan under Robert Morgenthau. At the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Elena prosecuted a variety of criminal cases, including robberies, burglaries, assaults, domestic violence offenses, grand larceny, and DWI and drug offenses. After serving as an Assistant District Attorney for four years, she relocated to the Capital District. She served as an attorney for the New York State Consumer Protection Board in Albany, before opening her private practice in Saratoga Springs in 2004.
Since 2004, Elena has devoted her practice exclusively to the representation of men and women in family and criminal matters. She has represented mothers and fathers in Family Courts across the Capital District in matters involving custody, visitation, paternity, abuse and neglect, orders of protection, child support, and spousal support. She has also represented husbands and wives in divorce actions in Supreme Courts across the region, including the issues of equitable distribution of marital property, sales of residences, and division of assets. For more information on representation in a family law or divorce matter, click here.
While she continues to handle litigated matrimonial cases, Elena strongly believes that the collaborative approach to matrimonial cases, as well as divorce and family mediation, results in better outcomes for clients and their families as they work through this time of transition in their lives. After litigating matrimonial and family cases for years, she was thrilled to participate in the formation of the Collaborative Divorce Association of the Capital District in 2008 and is a founding member of the organization. Elena is also a member of the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation and the Academy of Professional Family Mediators. For more information on family and divorce mediation, click here. For more information on collaborative divorce, click here.
In addition to serving as a family and divorce mediator, and representing clients in family and matrimonial matters, Elena continues to represent individuals charged with crimes in all courts, including misdemeanors, felonies, DWI, drug cases, and traffic offenses. For more information on representation in a criminal or traffic matter, click here.
Elena is currently a member of the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation, Academy of Professional Family Mediators, Collaborative Divorce Association of the Capital District, Saratoga County Bar Association, Adirondack Women's Bar Association, New York State Defenders Association, New York State Bar Association Family Law Section, and serves on the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Lawyer Referral Service. Elena was appointed to the Executive Board of the Saratoga County Bar Association in June 2012, and has served as the Chairperson of the Law Day Committee for several years. Elena lives in the Saratoga Springs area with her husband, three children, two dogs, and several fish.