Rory Safir is one of only six attorneys in Florida who hold the ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist designation. It means he does more than argue DUI cases. He reads the science behind breath tests, blood results, and field sobriety exercises with the same training the crime lab uses, and he finds the weaknesses other lawyers walk past. The firm carries that same evidence-driven approach into its criminal defense and personal injury work across the Tampa Bay area.
Many lawyers take the state’s evidence at face value. Rory takes it apart. As an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, he knows how breath machines drift out of tolerance, how blood samples can ferment or degrade before testing, and where standardized field sobriety exercises fall apart. That training has helped clients across Tampa Bay win dismissals, reduced charges, and protected driving privileges. DUI defense built on the science is the heart of the practice, and the same scrutiny carries over to every criminal and injury case the firm takes.
Behind every case is a person whose job, license, reputation, or recovery is on the line. Safir Injury & Criminal Defense Law represents people facing DUI and other criminal charges in Florida, along with people who have been hurt by someone else’s negligence. Everyone deserves a defense, or a claim, built on the evidence rather than assumption. Whether the proof is a breath test, a blood draw, a field sobriety video, a crash report, or a maintenance record, Rory holds it to the standard it should have met in the first place. One hard day does not have to define the rest of your life.
Over the years I have represented people from every walk of life across Tampa Bay, and some of them come to me because their situation carries stakes an ordinary case does not. Here are a few of the people I am proud to stand up for, and where you can read more about how I help.
A charge can threaten a career as much as a record, because a licensing board can act separately from the court. I defend nurses and other health care providers, teachers, financial professionals, and airline pilots, with a close eye on the license consequences that can follow. If you were hurt in a crash instead, I handle injury cases too.
A CDL holder faces disqualification rules a regular driver never sees, even off the clock. I defend commercial drivers and fight CDL disqualification, and I bring the same knowledge to truck accident cases.
Getting arrested far from home brings its own problems, from appearing in a Florida court to what a charge does to your license back home. I represent out-of-state drivers and seasonal residents so that a bad night on vacation does not follow you home, and if you were injured while visiting, I can help with your injury claim as well.
For a young person, a first arrest can put financial aid, housing, and a future career at risk. I represent students facing underage and college DUI charges and work to protect what is ahead of them.
If your service put you in a hard place, you deserve a lawyer who understands the paths Florida built for veterans, including Veterans Treatment Court. Read more about my work for veterans.
I represent LGBTQ clients across my practice, with respect and discretion, in criminal, DUI, and injury matters alike. Read more about my LGBTQ legal representation.
Some of the hardest calls this office gets come from a daughter or son who suspects something is wrong in a parent’s nursing home or assisted living facility. I represent residents and their families in abuse, neglect, and wrongful death cases, and I wrote a plain-English book for exactly that moment, Hurt in a Florida Nursing Home, free to Florida families.
A plea that looks minor in a courtroom can carry consequences that reach far past it, and for someone who is not a citizen the immigration result can outlast the sentence by decades. I handle these cases with that in view from the first conversation, because the best disposition in criminal court is sometimes the wrong one for a green card, and the difference is rarely obvious from the plea form. Lawful permanent residents, visa holders, students, and people with an application pending are each in a different position, and the analysis is not the same for any two of them. Where a case calls for it, I work alongside immigration counsel rather than guess.
A serious case is hard enough without translating it in your head. I represent Spanish-speaking clients and families throughout my practice, this entire site is available in Spanish, and I make sure the person whose case it is understands every step in the language they think in. That has nothing to do with where anyone is from or what other languages they speak. It is simply how you make sure a client is actually deciding their own case.
Whatever brought you here, and whether the matter is a criminal charge, a DUI, or a serious injury, you will have a lawyer who takes it seriously and handles it personally. Start your free strategy session.
I am not a lawyer who parachutes into St. Petersburg for the work and leaves. I live here, and I am out in the city all the time, at the events that make this place what it is, from the ones you will find on I Love the Burg to the Sunday drum circle out on Treasure Island. St. Pete runs on its small businesses and its local character, and I make a point of supporting them, because this is my community and not just my market.
That commitment shows up in the professional side too. I am a member of the St. Petersburg Bar Association and the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, and I stay involved in the life of the city rather than watching it from a distance. Each month I put out a print newsletter where I write about local happenings alongside what is going on with the firm, and you are welcome to take a look.
Rory Safir built his practice around training most lawyers never get. He earned the ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist designation through the American Chemical Society, completed gas chromatography training at Axion Analytical Labs, and is a certified NHTSA field sobriety instructor. That background lets him find the cracks in the government’s case that others miss, and it protects what his clients have on the line: their licenses, their livelihoods, and their freedom. He works directly with every client, with senior paralegal Kristen M. Bubis keeping communication, scheduling, and evidence on track.
A Forensic Lawyer-Scientist is an attorney formally trained in chromatography, toxicology, and scientific evidence. This recognition, awarded through Axion Labs and the ACS, allows Rory Safir to challenge the reliability of breath tests, blood work, and drug-related impairment evidence at a scientific level, not just a legal one.
DUI defense is the primary focus, but the firm also represents clients in criminal defense matters and in personal injury cases arising from traffic-related accidents. The unifying theme is protecting people whose lives can be derailed by sudden, high-stakes events.
Every case starts with a scientific review of the state’s evidence: breath machine logs, maintenance records, chromatograms, officer training, environmental contamination, and video footage of field sobriety exercises. Many cases fall apart not on legal arguments, but on scientific flaws.
You’ll receive a straightforward assessment and an explanation of the evidence the state will rely on. No scare tactics, no inflated promises. Just a clear plan based on science, strategy, and experience in Florida’s criminal courts.
Your case is directly handled by attorney Rory Safir, with support from senior paralegal Kristen Bubis. Kristen manages communication, scheduling, and evidence tracking, ensuring clients receive fast responses and consistent updates.
Yes. The firm represents clients throughout the Tampa Bay region, including Pinellas County, Hillsborough County, Pasco County, and Manatee County.
Arrested for DUI? Time matters. Complete the form to schedule a free strategy session with attorney Rory Safir. Your information is confidential, and we will follow up promptly.
