Mr. Elston’s practice includes white collar criminal defense, commercial litigation, internal corporate audits and investigations, and appellate litigation. He has advised several major corporations on government investigations and criminal matters. His internal investigation and audit experience includes both export-control (ITAR) and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) matters. He has also argued more than 20 cases before federal courts of appeals.

As a federal prosecutor, he led investigations into a variety of crimes, including white collar and Internet-related offenses. He also assisted with several national security related investigations and prosecutions, including the prosecutions of John Walker Lindh and Zacarias Moussaoui.

As chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty, Mr. Elston assisted in drafting the McNulty Memorandum, which sets out the factors that must be considered when deciding whether to charge a corporation with a federal crime. He also assisted in the Justice Department's efforts to obtain Senate ratification of the U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty, and led negotiations with the General Counsel of the House of Representatives regarding protocols for future searches of the Capitol Hill offices of Members of Congress.

As the Justice Department's ex officio member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Mr. Elston represented the government's interests on the commission, and participated in the commission's response to the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Booker. He also participated in the work of the Judicial Conference's Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure on proposed amendments to Rule 16 regarding pretrial discovery in criminal cases.