Send a quick message
Inside Rosenstein Law Group, the Scottsdale firm where two of only four attorneys in Arizona holding national board certification in DUI defense practice under the same roof.
Rosenstein Law Group — At a Glance
| FIRM | Rosenstein Law Group, PLLC |
| FOUNDED | Late 2006/2007, Scottsdale — Craig J. Rosenstein |
| FOUNDER’S CERTIFICATION | Board Certified in DUI Defense, National College for DUI Defense (2013) |
| FIRM CERTIFICATIONS | Managing attorney Jonathan Goebel also NCDD Board Certified in DUI Defense; attorney Vicki Lopez is a State Bar of Arizona Board-Certified Specialist in Criminal Law |
| FOCUS | DUI defense and general criminal defense, statewide |
| OFFICE | 8010 E. McDowell Rd., Suite 111, Scottsdale, AZ 85257 |
| CONTACT | rosensteinlawgroup.com |
Origin: From Solo Practice to Two of the State’s Four
When Craig Rosenstein opened his own practice in Scottsdale in late 2006, fresh off passing the Arizona bar, the National College for DUI Defense’s board certification — the only DUI defense credential accredited by the American Bar Association — didn’t yet have his name on it. He earned that in 2013, after building a docket concentrated almost entirely in DUI and drug cases. Today, per the firm’s own materials, Rosenstein and managing attorney Jonathan Goebel are two of only four attorneys in Arizona who hold NCDD board certification in DUI defense, and the only two in Maricopa County — meaning the state’s largest county has exactly two of them, and both practice at the same firm.
That NCDD credential is worth being precise about, because the firm’s own marketing calls Rosenstein and Goebel “DUI Law Specialists,” and this publication reserves the word “specialist” specifically for the Arizona State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization credential. That board does not currently certify a DUI-specific specialty; its closest analog is the broader Criminal Law specialization, which attorney Vicki Lopez at this firm holds. The NCDD credential is real, rare, and nationally ABA-accredited — but it comes from a different certifying body than the Arizona State Bar, so this profile describes it as “board certified in DUI defense by a national organization” rather than borrowing the firm’s own “specialist” language.
Practice Areas
The firm describes itself as full-service criminal defense, but its center of gravity is DUI: misdemeanor and felony DUI, extreme and aggravated DUI, drug-related driving charges, and the criminal matters that often travel alongside a DUI arrest. Rosenstein has been a registered lobbyist testifying before the Arizona legislature on DUI-related bills, was appointed the sole private defense attorney on the state’s DUI Case Processing Workgroup, and served as president of Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice in 2018 — all pointing to a genuine practice concentration rather than a marketing label layered onto a general criminal docket.
Case Outcomes
Unlike a personal injury settlement table, DUI defense results generally aren’t independently published with case citations attached, so the record here leans on firm biography claims and client-recounted results rather than third-party citations. Per the firm’s own materials, Rosenstein has served as lead counsel in more than 150 jury trials taken to verdict over his career. Client reviews on the firm’s own testimonials page and on Martindale describe specific outcomes in their own words: one reviewer described a felony drug charge resolved through a diversion program with the case dismissed after completion, alongside a related DUI charge reduced following a challenge to the traffic stop; another described avoiding a mandatory one-day jail sentence in a DUI case involving a crash.
Past-Results Disclaimer: These are the firm’s own claims and individual client accounts, not an independently verified or itemized case log. Every case is different, and no past result guarantees a similar outcome in any future matter.
Client Voice
The firm holds a strong reputation on both Yelp (client reviews frequently name specific attorneys, including Goebel and associate Howard Dworman) and Martindale, where peer reviewers — other attorneys, not clients — describe Goebel as “one of the founding fathers of the current state of DUI defense in Arizona.” Awesome Attorneys did not identify a pattern of unresolved negative reviews across Yelp, Martindale, and Avvo at the time of this profile’s compilation; that absence is noted rather than treated as proof no negative experiences exist.
Community
Rosenstein’s public involvement goes beyond standard firm-bio language about giving back: he has served on the board of the Arizona Justice (Innocence) Project, is a founding member of the DUI Defense Lawyers Association, and per his own professional biography has been involved in drafting legislation later signed into law. Whether any specific bill nets out as favorable or unfavorable to a given defendant depends on its terms; it’s noted here as documented public involvement, not an unverifiable community-service claim.
Recognition
Genuine, peer-reviewed credentials: seven Rosenstein Law Group attorneys (Rosenstein, Vicki Lopez, Jonathan Goebel, James David Smith, Rachelle Ferraro, Angela Poliquin, and Joshua Sene as a “Ones to Watch” honoree) appear in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers in America, a peer-nomination process. Rosenstein was separately named Best Lawyers’ 2026 “Lawyer of the Year” for Criminal Defense in the Phoenix metro — a distinction given to one attorney per practice area, per metro, per year. The firm also holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating, its highest peer-review tier.
Separate from the peer-reviewed credentials above: NCDD Board Certification in DUI Defense (Rosenstein, Goebel) is a genuine, ABA-accredited national credential, but not an Arizona State Bar designation — see the Origin section for why this profile doesn’t call it “specialist.” Vicki Lopez’s Arizona Board-Certified Specialist in Criminal Law designation is the one credential on this roster that meets this publication’s bar for that word. Client-facing review aggregates (Yelp, Avvo) reflect volume and sentiment rather than peer evaluation of legal skill and are reported under Client Voice above, not here.
The Arizona Legal Backdrop
What follows is general legal information, not legal advice.
Arizona’s core DUI statute, A.R.S. § 28-1381, makes it illegal to drive while impaired to the slightest degree or with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or more (0.04% for commercial drivers). A.R.S. § 28-1382 defines “Extreme DUI” at a BAC of 0.15% or above, which carries mandatory jail time even for a first offense. A.R.S. § 28-1383 covers “Aggravated DUI” — felony-level charges that apply to a third DUI within seven years, a DUI on a suspended license, or a DUI with a person under 15 in the vehicle. Arizona’s implied consent law, A.R.S. § 28-1321, means anyone driving in the state has already agreed to chemical testing if lawfully arrested for DUI; refusing a test triggers an automatic license suspension independent of the underlying criminal case.
The Awesome Attorneys Assessment
The clearest, most specific thing about this firm is also its narrowest: two attorneys hold a credential that only four people in Arizona have, and both are here. That’s a genuine differentiator for a DUI-specific case, particularly one involving contested breath or blood test science, where NCDD-certified counsel has trained specifically on the forensic and constitutional issues that arise. The honest trade-off is that this is a defense-side, fee-based practice built around DUI and criminal matters specifically — it is not a general-practice firm, and prospective clients should weigh its private-fee structure against a public defender, which is a constitutional right regardless of ability to pay. This is a fit for someone who wants dedicated DUI-defense depth and is prepared to pay for it, not a one-stop shop for unrelated legal needs.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched in August 2026 from rosensteinlawgroup.com, Martindale-Hubbell, Best Lawyers, Yelp, Justia, the National College for DUI Defense member directory, and Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice. Awesome Attorneys checked for identity confusion with other “Rosenstein Law Group” entities in other states and found none; the firm’s affiliated marketing domains (including scottsdale-duilawyer.com and az-defenders.com) list the same attorney roster and were treated as the same firm, not separate entities. Rosenstein Law Group did not commission, review, or pay for this profile.
Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice
This profile is an independent editorial article published by Awesome Attorneys. Awesome Attorneys does not endorse, recommend, or warrant any lawyer or law firm profiled on this site, and inclusion in this series is not paid placement.