License, Penalties & Costs

Florida DUI, criminal defense, and personal injury, explained by a forensic lawyer-scientist and former public defender. Celebrity cases, courtroom strategy, and the science behind the evidence, in plain English.

Rory Safir

Every post here is written by Rory Safir, one of a handful of ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientists in Florida and a former Assistant Public Defender in Tampa.

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A Golf Cart, a Refusal, and the Hearing Most Drivers Never Request

A recent client of this office was stopped while driving a golf cart and arrested for DUI. Florida treats a golf cart as a vehicle for DUI purposes, so the arrest carried everything a car arrest carries, including the part most people never see coming: an administrative suspension of his...

A DUI Arrest Puts Your CDL at Risk for a Year. Here Is How One Driver Kept His.

For many drivers, a DUI arrest is a legal problem. For a commercial driver, it is a payroll problem....

A DUI in Sarasota, Manatee, or DeSoto? DETER Is the Most Structured Exit in the Region

If your DUI, or your boating DUI, happened in Sarasota, Manatee, or DeSoto County, your case sits in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, and the Twelfth runs the most structured diversion program in the region. It is called DETER, and I just published a free plain-English guide to it: Safir Guide...

A First DUI in Hillsborough Comes With a Second Chance. Here Is How RIDR Works

A first DUI arrest in Hillsborough County comes with something most counties cannot offer: a State Attorney program that can end an eligible case as reckless driving with no conviction at all. It is called RIDR, and I just published a free plain-English guide to it: Safir Guide No....

Arrested for DUI in Pinellas or Pasco? DROP Can Rewrite the Ending, If You Move Fast

If your first DUI happened in Pinellas or Pasco County, there is a program that can end your case as reckless driving instead of a DUI conviction. It is called DROP, it is run by the State Attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, and I just published a free plain-English...

Florida’s Habitual Traffic Offender Trap Just Got Bigger

Buried in the stack of laws that took effect on July 1, 2026 is one that will quietly turn ordinary traffic tickets into felony cases. House Bill 35 added driving without a valid license, section 322.03, Florida Statutes, to the list of offenses that count toward habitual traffic offender status....

The Part of a DUI Conviction Nobody Warns You About

When a machine prints a number about you, the number moves into your head and starts acting like a verdict. Some part of you has probably decided that everything from here is paperwork....

The Deadline Hiding on the Paper in Your Pocket

If you were arrested for DUI in the last few days, I can guess where your mind keeps going: the court date. Everyone fixates on it. But the deadline that matters most this week is not on the court's calendar....

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Case Results

Acquittal, Pinellas County: DUI jury acquittal after the HGN eye test was challenged.

Past results are examples only and do not predict, promise, or guarantee the outcome of any other case.

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Client Reviews

“Rory rescued me. His professionalism and knowledge of criminal law turned what could have been a terrible situation into freedom. One of the best attorneys in the state, in my opinion.”

Daniel T.

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