Best Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers

Mike Goolsby is a criminal defense lawyer in Dallas with 3 decades of experience. Before opening the firm, he served as an Assistant District Attorney for Dallas County and later as chief prosecutor of the family violence court.

That prosecutorial background shapes how Attorney Goolsby reads a case. The team defends DWI, drug possession and trafficking, assault and family violence, theft, gun charges, and federal matters. Expunction and non-disclosure work round out the practice.

Cases come from Dallas County plus Denton, Tarrant, and Collin counties. Goolsby has been named to America's Top Lawyers by the American Law Society and recognized by the National Trial Lawyers Top 100. Consultations are free.

Only about 5% of Texas attorneys hold Board Certification in criminal law. Warren Abrams has held his since 1988, and Texas Super Lawyers has named him to its list for 17 straight years.

The firm practices as Abrams Trial Law. Warren and Joshua Abrams are a father-and-son team with 30-plus years of trial work and two stints as Dallas County felony prosecutors. Both are known for trying cases rather than pushing clients toward a quick plea, and much of their caseload arrives as referrals from other attorneys.

The practice covers DWI, assault, drug offenses, white-collar charges, and federal defense across Dallas, Collin, Denton, Tarrant, and Rockwall counties. Payment plans and credit cards are accepted.

Palmer Perlstein runs on a team model. Every client gets several attorneys on the file rather than one lawyer juggling a docket alone. The roster carries more than 140 years of combined experience.

The firm handles four areas: criminal defense, personal injury, civil rights claims, and appeals. That mix is unusual. A police brutality claim and a murder defense sit under one roof. The board-certified appellate lawyer can also pick up a matter after an unfavorable verdict.

Case results include a not guilty verdict on a murder charge and a Fifth Court of Appeals reversal that sent a murder conviction back for retrial. Two former assistant district attorneys are on staff. The Addison office serves Dallas and Fort Worth.

More than 60 jury trials and 500 resolved cases sit behind Gallian Firm, along with over 200 five-star reviews.

Partners Gregg and Jaclyn Gallian split the work between criminal defense and civil litigation. On the defense side that means assault, drug crimes, sex crimes, and federal charges such as healthcare fraud, RICO, and loan fraud. The civil side covers business disputes, employment defense, and premises liability.

Published results include a not-guilty verdict for a physician tried for healthcare fraud conspiracy. Most cases run through Dallas County courts.

Robert S. Gregg has practiced for 33-plus years, and his stated goal in every case is the same: dismissal, with no conviction on the record.

The office splits its work between criminal defense and personal injury. Charges handled include assault, domestic violence, drug crimes, sex crimes, theft, DWI, and weapons offenses. Injury clients bring auto, motorcycle, truck, and premises cases.

Attorney Gregg holds a 10.0 Avvo rating and belongs to the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. A second office serves Fort Worth.

Two generations practice together at this Plano firm. Howard Shapiro brings five decades of courtroom work and his son Todd handles the high-profile defense side, with Peter Ganyard rounding out the group.

The firm splits its docket between criminal defense and family law. That covers DWI, drug offenses, federal charges, and juvenile cases alongside divorce, high-asset property division, and custody disputes.

Clients often include professionals and public figures whose careers turn on the outcome. Todd Shapiro carries a 10.0 Avvo rating and a 2026 Super Lawyers selection. The practice reaches across Collin County and the wider metroplex.

Brian Corrigan spent his first decade as a prosecutor, serving as First Assistant District Attorney in Kaufman County and Felony Chief Prosecutor in Dallas County. He taught other lawyers how to try DWI, family violence, and sexual assault cases.

He has since tried more than 150 jury trials and handled over 2,000 felony and misdemeanor matters. Corrigan is Board Certified in criminal law and carries an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

One detail sets the practice apart: he handles every aspect of a case himself, with no handoff to associates. The Rockwall office covers Rockwall, Dallas, Collin, and Kaufman counties.

Asante Legal takes criminal cases only. Nothing else. Principal attorney Adwoa Asante has worked more than 1,000 cases and secured hundreds of dismissals.

Her clients tend to be working people facing a first serious charge: teachers, nurses, truck drivers. The practice covers DWI, drug cases, assault and family violence, theft, weapons offenses, and record clearing through expunction.

Asante grew up in the DFW area, graduated magna cum laude from Ohio State, and earned her law degree with honors from Emory. Payment plans are available, and the firm serves Dallas, Collin, and Denton counties.

Founded in 1974, Pelley Law Office, L.L.P. has served North Texas for five decades. Richard A. Pelley is a former U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee, and Quinton G. Pelley has been named a Texas Super Lawyer.

That pairing gives the firm an unusual reach: bankruptcy, criminal defense, and family law under one roof. Reported outcomes include a felony assault case not billed by the grand jury and a sexual assault charge resolved within weeks.

Most new clients come in as referrals from former ones. Offices are in Plano, Dallas, and Sherman.

Jeffrey Beltz started this Garland practice in 2003 around one idea: affordable representation when it matters most. The firm now handles thousands of matters a year.

Traffic tickets and driver's license problems are the specialty, including warrants, occupational licenses, and suspension hearings. The team also takes DWI, felony, and misdemeanor charges, and injury claims from car and 18-wheeler wrecks.

Clients can pull up their case file from a phone at any hour. The firm works in courts across Dallas, Collin, Denton, and Tarrant counties.

Manny Haddad built his North Dallas practice on direct attorney contact. Clients reach him by text or phone, not through a screening layer.

The firm handles drug charges, assault and family violence, felonies, and misdemeanors, plus injury claims from car, truck, and pedestrian collisions. Rates stay modest by design, and a free consultation starts the process.

The lineage here runs back to 1889, when S.P. Jones began reading law in East Texas. He argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1916, and his son helped found the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.

Jonathan Winocour and Mike C. Miller carry that four-generation tradition. The practice centers on wrongful death, dram shop claims, truck wrecks, and catastrophic injury, with felony and misdemeanor defense and civil rights work alongside it. Miller has been Board Certified in personal injury trial law since 1989. Calls are answered around the clock.

Mark A. Perez pairs 35 years of criminal litigation with immigration practice, which matters when a charge threatens someone's status as much as their freedom.

A former Dallas County prosecutor, he handles drug conspiracies, sex offenses, white collar cases, and federal matters, along with removal defense and adjustment of status. Offices in Dallas and Allen serve Spanish-speaking clients, and phone support runs 24/7.

Peter Barrett has spent more than 20 years on high-stakes cases. His standing among prosecutors and judges tends to show up in the results.

He is AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell, holds a 10.0 Avvo rating, and has been named to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100. Barrett takes calls seven days a week and represents clients across Dallas, Collin, Denton, and Tarrant counties.

Walker Fults works the search-and-seizure angle hard. Published results include a drug case where the evidence was thrown out at trial and a firearm charge suppressed on an unlawful search.

He handles DWI and alcohol offenses, drug and gun charges, theft, sex crimes, juvenile matters, probation violations, and federal cases from the Maple Avenue office.

Attorney Michelle Lugo leads a bilingual practice with more than 45 years of combined legal experience on the team.

The docket covers drug charges, assault, domestic violence, firearm offenses, robbery, theft, and probation violations, plus divorce and custody work. Virtual appointments are available, and the firm appears in Dallas, Collin, and Rockwall county courts.

Criminal charges and immigration consequences often arrive together, so this North Dallas practice handles both in-house.

The defense side takes cases from DWI up to capital murder, with trial experience in state and federal court. The immigration team covers removal defense before the immigration court. Family-based petitions through USCIS round out the practice.

Anthony M. Farmer opened this downtown Dallas firm in 2007. The team now covers criminal defense, personal injury, and civil litigation, with results including a $10 million verdict as co-counsel.

Attorney Farmer speaks Spanish, the office takes calls around the clock, and consultations cost nothing.

James Aulbaugh has handled over 10,000 cases and 120-plus jury trials, first as a Chief Felony Prosecutor and now on the defense side.

He is one of roughly 800 Texas attorneys board-certified in criminal law. The practice covers DWI, drug crimes, violent and white-collar offenses, and expunctions across Dallas, Collin, Denton, Ellis, and Kaufman counties.