3 of the Best DUI Lawyers in Chandler, AZ

Chandler drivers have a real advantage when it comes to hiring a DUI lawyer: several firms have an office in the city, so you can sit across a desk from the person who will handle your case.

Before the firms, a short list of questions worth asking any of them.

Five Questions to Ask a Chandler DUI Lawyer

• How many DUI cases have you handled in Chandler Municipal Court, and who is the prosecutor on my case?
• Who will attend my hearings: you, or an associate?
• What does your fee cover, and is trial included?
• When will you request the ADOT hearing and a stay of my license suspension?
• What is the first thing you would look at in my police report?

Chandler DUI Lawyers, Compared

Facts below come from each firm’s own website.

Firm details come from each firm’s own website and were checked in October 2026. Confirm credentials and discipline history for any lawyer on the State Bar of Arizona website.

What Happens After a DUI Arrest in Chandler?

A DUI arrest in Chandler sets two processes in motion at once: a criminal case in court and an administrative case about your license. They run on different clocks, and missing a deadline in one can cost you in the other.

1. The stop and the investigation. The officer looks for a reason to stop you, then for signs of impairment, and usually asks you to do field sobriety tests and a breath test.
2. The arrest and testing. After an arrest you are typically taken for a breath or blood test. If you refuse, the officer can seek a warrant for blood.
3. Release or booking. Many people are released with a citation or after posting bond. If you are held, a judge sees you at an initial appearance, generally within 24 hours.
4. The license notice. The officer may serve an order of suspension. You then have 30 days to ask ADOT for a hearing.
5. The arraignment. Your first court date in Chandler Municipal Court is usually an arraignment, where the charge is read and you enter a plea.
6. Disclosure, motions and negotiation. Your lawyer gets the police report, video and test records, files motions where the evidence is weak, and negotiates.
7. Resolution. The case ends in a dismissal, a plea or a trial.

Most of the leverage in a DUI case comes from the first two weeks, when video can still be requested and the license deadline is still open.

A Note From Michael Tamou

I am the founding attorney of Tamou Law Group. Our firm has handled hundreds of DUI cases across Phoenix metro area, including Chandler, and I wrote this list the way I would want a friend to get one.

The facts below come from each firm’s own website, and the rest comes from my experience with Arizona DUI law.

Charged with a DUI in Chandler? Please contact my office. Consultations are free and there is no obligation.

Chandler Municipal Court and Your DUI

Misdemeanor DUIs that happen inside Chandler city limits are filed in Chandler Municipal Court (480-782-4700), 200 E. Chicago St., and prosecuted by the Chandler City Prosecutor’s Office (480-782-4610), 250 E. Chicago St. Felony DUIs, such as aggravated DUI under ARS 28-1383, are filed in Maricopa County Superior Court.

One more deadline to know: the ADOT process. See how to stop a license suspension after a DUI in Arizona, what to expect at an ADOT hearing, and the statute itself, extreme and super-extreme DUI under ARS 28-1382.

Your Driver License After a Chandler DUI Arrest

Your license is at stake before your criminal case is decided. Arizona’s administrative process has its own rules, summarized from ARS 28-1385 and ARS 28-1321:

• An order of suspension takes effect 30 days after it is served, and a hearing request has to be received within 30 days.
• When an officer takes your license, the temporary driving permit they issue is valid for 30 days.
• After a failed breath or blood test, a first suspension for someone with no qualifying prior in 84 months can be at least 30 days followed by at least 60 days of restricted driving, if the required screening is completed. Without it, the suspension can be 90 days.
• Refusing a test brings a separate suspension of 12 months, or 2 years for a second refusal within 84 months. The officer can still seek a warrant for blood.
• A special ignition interlock restricted license may be available. Accepting one means giving up the administrative hearing.

Whether to request the hearing, take a restricted license or fight the suspension is a decision to make with a lawyer in the first days. See how DUI license suspension works and how to get a restricted license.

DUI Penalties in Arizona, and What They Mean for a Chandler Case

Penalties are set by statute, not by the city, so a Chandler DUI carries the same ranges as a DUI in Phoenix or Tucson. What changes the outcome is the charge you face and the facts behind it.

Minimums from the statutes, before the surcharges that courts add. A judge can order more than the minimum, and a prior DUI changes the numbers.

How the levels work

• Standard DUI: impaired to the slightest degree, a BAC of 0.08 or more within two hours of driving, or any drug or its metabolite in your body.
• Extreme DUI: a BAC of 0.15 or more within two hours. At 0.20 or more it becomes super-extreme.
• Aggravated DUI: a felony, covered below.

Because the numbers are minimums, a lawyer’s work often centers on keeping a case at the lowest level the facts support, or on getting a charge dismissed when the evidence does not hold up.

Five Places a Chandler DUI Case Can Fall Apart

1. The reason for the stop. Without reasonable suspicion, the stop and what followed can be challenged.
2. The field sobriety tests. They are subjective, scored by the officer, and sensitive to medical conditions and conditions on the roadside.
3. The two-hour window. A 0.08 charge requires the BAC within two hours of driving, and alcohol can still be rising after you stop.
4. The breath or blood result. Calibration, operator certification, sample handling and chain of custody all matter.
5. Actual physical control. A DUI can be charged without driving, but the State has to prove you were in control of the vehicle. See actual physical control DUI.

A lawyer who knows which of these points fits your facts can often narrow the case or end it. Our list of the top defenses to DUI charges goes through them in more detail.

Felony DUI: The Line Between a Chandler Misdemeanor and Prison

Most DUIs in Chandler start as misdemeanors, but five facts can turn one into an aggravated DUI under ARS 28-1383: a suspended or restricted license, a third DUI in 84 months, a child under 15 in the car, a violated interlock order, or wrong-way driving.

The difference is large. Aggravated DUI is a class 4 felony (class 6 when a child under 15 is the aggravating factor), with minimum fines of $750 plus $3,250 in assessments and, in most categories, a minimum of four months in prison before probation.

If you are charged with a felony DUI, the early work is about the aggravating fact itself: whether your license was in fact suspended, whether you knew of the interlock requirement, and whether the prior convictions count within the 84-month window.

What a Chandler DUI Really Costs

The fine is the smallest part of the bill. Even for a first-offense DUI the statutory assessments add $1,000 to the $250 minimum fine, and extreme and aggravated DUIs carry assessments in the thousands.

• Court costs: the fine plus the assessments listed above, and the surcharges courts add.
• Required programs: screening, education or treatment, and traffic survival school.
• Ignition interlock: a device you pay to install and maintain on any vehicle you drive, often for 12 months or more.
• Lost time: court dates, jail time, community restitution and the license suspension.
• Attorney fees: DUI lawyers in Phoenix area often charge between $4,500 and $10,000 or more, depending on the facts and the BAC.

That last item is the one you control. A strong defense can reduce or remove several of the others, so the fee should be weighed against what is at stake, not against the lowest quote.

What Not to Do After a Chandler DUI Arrest

A few missteps account for a lot of avoidable damage in DUI cases:

• Do not let the license deadline pass. The hearing request has to be received within 30 days.
• Do not drive on a suspended license. That is one of the facts that makes a DUI an aggravated felony.
• Do not skip court. A missed date in Chandler Municipal Court can bring a warrant.
• Do not ignore the court’s orders. Screening, education and interlock requirements are what let a judge suspend most of the jail time.
• Do not discuss the case with anyone but your lawyer, including on social media.

What Tamou Law Group Does First in a Chandler DUI

Within days: the ADOT hearing request and stay, so your license is not suspended while the case is pending. Then the evidence: the stop, the arrest, the field sobriety tests and the breath or blood results.

Our team includes former prosecutors, law enforcement officers and public defenders, and handles every level of DUI from standard to aggravated.

Chandler DUI: Common Questions