Need a lawyer for something like this?
Tell us what happened and we’ll connect you with a law firm that handles cases like yours, fast. Free, no obligation.
Tell us what happened →Our chat is not a message to the firm profiled here. Awesome Attorneys is independent and not a law firm; we pass your details on only with your permission.
Attorney Advertising. The information on this profile does not constitute legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed by reading it. Past results described do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Most criminal defense lawyers handle DWI cases. Steven Epstein handles nothing else. The partner who anchors the DWI practice at Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco reports his caseload as 99% DUI/DWI — roughly 1,000 cases across more than three decades — and accepts only DWI and vehicular homicide defense matters. When New York defense lawyers want to learn how to try these cases, many of them learn it from him: he runs a three-year DWI defense educational course that bears his name.
At a Glance
| Firm | Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco, LLP |
| DWI Practice Lead | Steven B. Epstein |
| Manhattan Office | 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 6400, New York, NY 10118 (the Empire State Building) |
| Headquarters | 666 Old Country Road, 7th Floor, Garden City, NY 11530 — the firm’s principal office is on Long Island, with additional offices in Manhattan and Huntington (see Assessment) |
| Focus | DWI and vehicular homicide defense (Epstein’s exclusive practice); the broader firm handles criminal defense, federal civil rights, and commercial litigation |
| Bar Admissions | New York (1993) and Connecticut (1993); both records show no misconduct found |
| Fee Structure | Free initial consultation (first 90 minutes); hourly rates reported at $375–$600 |
Career History
Epstein was born and raised in New York City and has been admitted to the New York bar since 1993 — more than three decades of practice, the overwhelming majority of it concentrated in DWI defense. He describes being torn in his youth between the stage and the courtroom and ultimately doing both: alongside his trial practice he still performs in community theater productions on Long Island. Professionally, he built his reputation as both a trial lawyer and an educator of trial lawyers, founding the Steven Epstein DWI Defense Institute, a three-year educational course for DWI practitioners, and serving on the faculty of the National College for DUI Defense and of Serious Science, a forensic-science training program for defense attorneys. He serves as President of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Practice Concentration
Within the firm, Epstein’s practice is singular: DWI and vehicular homicide defense only. The firm states he has tried more than 100 DWI cases to verdict — a trial count few New York practitioners in this field approach — including trial wins in vehicular homicide, aggravated driving while intoxicated, drug-impairment DWI, and standard DWI cases. His work has drawn out-of-state engagements in New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. The broader firm brings what it describes as more than 200 years of collective experience across criminal defense, federal civil rights, and commercial litigation, with a criminal defense team that has represented over 1,000 clients on charges ranging from DWI to homicide.
Track Record
Criminal defense outcomes resist the dollar-figure results tables common in injury practice, and the firm’s public materials reflect that: the headline numbers are trial counts and verdict outcomes rather than settlements. The 100-plus DWI trials to verdict and the trial victories in vehicular homicide and aggravated DWI cases are the firm’s own reported figures, attributed here as such; this research could not independently verify individual case dispositions. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case.
Client Voice
Epstein holds a 5.0 rating across 27 client reviews on Avvo. One client who hired him described him as “very knowledgeable of court proceedings in Bronx County” — notable because it reflects work in the city’s courts, not only Long Island’s. Another reviewer went further, calling him and the firm the best in the business without qualification. This research did not surface a pattern of negative client reviews, and his attorney registration records in both New York and Connecticut show no misconduct found.
Beyond the Courtroom
Epstein’s community footprint runs through legal education and, more unusually, community theater: his most recent reported stage appearance was with The Minstrel Players in Northport, New York. Within the profession, his leadership of the state’s criminal defense bar association and his teaching commitments at the DWI Defense Institute, the National College for DUI Defense, and Serious Science function as a sustained investment in the defense bar’s collective competence.
Recognition
Epstein has been named a New York Metro Area DWI Super Lawyer each year from 2014 to 2023 — a selection made through peer nomination and independent research by a commercial rating publication, which we categorize as peer-informed recognition rather than state certification. His faculty position at the National College for DUI Defense and his presidency of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers are peer-conferred professional standing of the more substantive kind. A disclosure we apply to every New York profile: New York State does not operate a board certification program for legal specialties comparable to the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, so no New York attorney profile on this site will describe its subject as a state-certified specialist. Where the firm’s own marketing refers to specialist credentials, this profile does not adopt that language.
New York Legal Backdrop
New York’s impaired-driving offenses are tiered under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192. Driving While Ability Impaired by alcohol (§ 1192(1)) is a traffic infraction, typically charged between .05 and .07 BAC; per se Driving While Intoxicated (§ 1192(2)) begins at .08; Aggravated DWI (§ 1192(2-a)(a)) begins at .18. Under Leandra’s Law, DWI with a child aged 15 or younger in the vehicle (§ 1192(2-a)(b)) is a class E felony on a first offense, and ignition interlock devices are mandatory for misdemeanor and felony DWI convictions under VTL § 1198. A second DWI within ten years is a felony under § 1193. A chemical test refusal triggers a separate DMV administrative process under § 1194 that can revoke a license for at least a year regardless of the criminal outcome — meaning a DWI defendant is often litigating in two forums at once. Vehicular homicide charges, the other half of Epstein’s exclusive practice, arise under Penal Law Article 125 when an impaired-driving incident causes a death. None of this is legal advice; consult a licensed New York attorney about your situation.
Awesome Attorneys Assessment
On the substance, this is as strong a DWI-defense credential set as exists in New York: an exclusive practice, a trial count in the hundreds of cases with 100-plus verdicts, three decades of clean bar records in two states, and a teaching role that means opposing counsel may literally have learned the field from him.
The honest trade-offs, stated plainly: this firm’s center of gravity is Garden City, on Long Island — the Manhattan office at 350 Fifth Avenue is one of three locations, and prospective New York City clients should ask directly where their meetings will happen and who will staff their court appearances. Epstein is one partner at a multi-practice firm; hiring the firm for a DWI matter is not a guarantee that Epstein personally handles every stage of the case, and that is a fair question to ask at the consultation. Finally, the reported $375–$600 hourly structure is a different economic model from the flat-fee arrangements common in DWI defense, and clients should get the fee agreement specifics in writing before engaging.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys in August 2026 without the participation, sponsorship, or payment of Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco, LLP. Primary sources: the firm’s website (barketepstein.com), including its New York DWI practice and Manhattan location pages. Independent verification: Avvo attorney profile (bar admission years, registration status showing no misconduct found in New York and Connecticut, practice-area percentages, fee structure, office addresses including the Manhattan office at 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 6400, and the 5.0 rating across 27 reviews); National College for DUI Defense member materials; YellowPages business listing corroborating the Manhattan address and phone. The firm’s Garden City headquarters and multi-office structure are disclosed rather than minimized. Statutes cited in the New York Legal Backdrop were verified against New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §§ 1192, 1193, 1194, and 1198.
Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice
Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal-directory publisher. This profile was not paid for by Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco, LLP, and inclusion in our editorial coverage cannot be purchased. Our methodology and editorial standards are applied consistently across all firms we cover.