Buford & Gonzalez: A Board-Certified DWI Defense Attorney With a Public Health Degree

TO OUR READERS: This profile is independent editorial content produced by Awesome Attorneys. Buford & Gonzalez did not pay for, commission, sponsor, or review this article, and inclusion in this series cannot be purchased. Nothing here is legal advice, an endorsement, or a recommendation to hire any lawyer; readers should evaluate counsel independently and may verify any Texas attorney’s license and discipline history through the State Bar of Texas at texasbar.com. Facts are drawn from the sources identified in the Methodology section and were verified as of August 2026.

AT A GLANCE

I. A Public Health Degree Behind the Courtroom Strategy

Robert Buford’s academic background is unusual for a criminal defense attorney: alongside his law degree, he holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, with additional health law coursework at the University of Houston. That combination is directly relevant to DWI defense specifically, where blood alcohol testing, toxicology, and physiological evidence are frequently contested, and gives Buford a scientific vocabulary for challenging test evidence that a purely legal background would not provide.

II. Twenty-Seven Years, One Firm, Two Practice Lines

Buford & Gonzalez has operated continuously in Austin since 1998, building both a DWI/criminal defense practice and a plaintiffs’ personal injury practice under one roof. This is a genuine dual practice, not a criminal-defense shop with an incidental PI mention: the firm’s own materials list a full range of personal injury case types (brain injury, construction accidents, motorcycle accidents, premises liability, truck accidents, wrongful death) with the same level of detail as its criminal defense content.

III. Practice Areas

• DWI/DUI defense
• Criminal defense: drug crimes, fraud, gun crimes, internet crimes, sex crimes, theft, violent crimes, criminal appeals, expungement
• Personal injury: car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, construction accidents, premises liability, brain injury, dog bites, wrongful death

IV. Case Outcomes

The firm’s client testimonials describe specific, detailed outcomes in DWI cases rather than a generic results list: one client who blew a .146 on a breath test had the DWI dismissed; another who failed field sobriety tests and blew a .11 also had a DWI dismissed after “a long fight”; a third client on probation from a prior DWI, facing revocation and the loss of a real estate license, took the case to jury trial and received a Not Guilty verdict. This profile located these as individual testimonials rather than a comprehensive itemized case list; that distinction, and the absence of a broader published results table, is disclosed here.

PAST-RESULTS DISCLAIMER: Every case is different, and these outcomes, as described in client testimonials, do not guarantee or predict the outcome of any future case.

V. The Client Voice

Reviews are specific about why clients chose the firm. One client explained choosing Buford & Gonzalez “because they were Board Certified and my former attorney was not,” then received a Not Guilty verdict at trial after prosecutors refused to reduce or dismiss the case. Another client, who “called the cop every name in the book” during a difficult arrest, credited the firm’s qualifications directly for a Not Guilty jury verdict despite looking “really drunk” at the scene. No pattern of negative or unresolved reviews was located for this firm as of this research date.

VI. Community and Local Presence

The firm sponsors the Buford & Gonzalez Scholarship, a nationwide scholarship open to incoming college students, with special consideration for those pursuing a criminal defense career, a specific, documented community investment beyond general practice marketing.

VII. Credentials and Recognition

Robert Buford is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a genuine peer- and exam-based credential the firm’s own marketing repeatedly emphasizes as a reason to choose them over non-certified competitors. The firm holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the service’s highest peer-review standard, and is listed in the National Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, third-party recognitions distinguished here from self-conferred marketing claims.

VIII. The Texas Legal Backdrop

In Texas, a first-offense DWI is generally a Class B misdemeanor, escalating with aggravating factors under Texas Penal Code Chapter 49. A DWI arrest can trigger professional licensing consequences beyond the criminal case itself, relevant to the firm’s documented client history involving a real estate license; most Texas licensing boards restrict convictions for felonies or crimes involving moral turpitude. Texas personal injury claims are generally subject to a two-year statute of limitations under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. None of this is legal advice; consult a licensed Texas attorney about your specific situation.

IX. The Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Buford & Gonzalez’s structural strength is a genuinely unusual scientific edge in DWI defense, a board-certified attorney with a Master of Public Health specifically relevant to contesting blood alcohol and toxicology evidence, paired with 27 years of continuous Austin practice and a documented pattern of jury-trial Not Guilty verdicts in cases where prosecutors refused to negotiate. For a client with a DWI case turning on contested scientific evidence, that specific background is a real, checkable differentiator.

The honest limitation is one worth naming given some ambiguity in recent public records about Buford’s current firm affiliation: this profile relied on the firm’s own active website and current client-facing materials, but a prospective client should confirm directly, at the time of contact, which attorney and firm structure currently applies, since attorney affiliations in solo and small-partnership practices can shift.

X. Methodology & Sources

This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys in August 2026 without the participation, sponsorship, or payment of Buford & Gonzalez. Primary source: the firm’s website buford-law.com / dwiresults.com (home, DWI page, client testimonials, professional licenses page). Verification sources: Justia and Lawyers.com attorney profiles for Robert Buford III (education, certification, office address). Statutes cited in Section VIII were verified against the Texas Constitution and Statutes database (statutes.capitol.texas.gov).

Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal-directory publisher. This profile was not paid for by Buford & Gonzalez, and inclusion in our editorial coverage cannot be purchased. Awesome Attorneys may separately offer premium sponsored placements to attorneys and firms; sponsorship status, where it exists, is always disclosed and does not alter the editorial content of a profile such as this one. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice or an attorney referral.