Send a quick message
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.
When cable news needs someone to explain a drunk-driving case on air, Rachel Kugel’s firm says the call often comes to her — she has appeared as a guest on CNN, FOX News, CourtTV, and MSNBC. The practice she built behind that media profile is deliberately narrow: The Kugel Law Firm describes its New York team as focusing exclusively on DWI defense, appearing regularly at Manhattan Criminal Court and at the DMV hearings that run in parallel with every refusal case.
At a Glance
| Firm | The Kugel Law Firm |
| Founder | Rachel Kugel |
| Manhattan Office | 111 East 125th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10035 (East Harlem) |
| Focus | DWI/DUI defense exclusively, in both New York and New Jersey — including refusal hearings, DMV administrative hearings, vehicle seizures, and DWI appeals |
| Memberships | National College for DUI Defense; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers |
| Fee Structure | No-cost initial defense strategy session |
Career History
Kugel founded her eponymous firm as a criminal defense practice concentrated on DWI cases on both sides of the Hudson, in New York and New Jersey. Her firm’s current materials state she has defended DWI cases in Manhattan and throughout New York for over 20 years. Alongside the courtroom work, she built an unusual public-education footprint: regular television commentary on CNN, FOX News, CourtTV, MSNBC, and other programs, plus a YouTube channel devoted to explaining DWI law to the public. She is a member of the National College for DUI Defense — the ABA-recognized organization dedicated to education and training of impaired-driving defense lawyers — and of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Practice Concentration
The firm’s scope statement is unambiguous: DWI defense exclusively. That includes the full lifecycle of a New York case — the arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court within 24 hours of arrest, the DMV refusal hearing that must be requested within 15 days, hardship hearings for conditional driving privileges, suppression motions attacking the stop and the breath test, plea negotiations, and trial. The firm also handles vehicle seizures and DWI appeals, and maintains a parallel New Jersey practice out of Newark for clients whose cases cross state lines — a genuine structural asset in a metro area where commuters routinely do.
Track Record
A factual discrepancy in the firm’s own materials, disclosed here per our editorial policy: Kugel’s attorney biography describes having defended hundreds of people on charges related to driving under the influence, while the firm’s current website describes thousands of DWI cases defended over 20-plus years. Both figures are the firm’s own claims, they are not consistent with each other, and neither could be independently verified by this research. What the review record does independently show is a sustained pattern of client-reported dismissals and reductions, including a client whose DWI and three accompanying tickets were dismissed, and a high-BAC accident case with a blood-test refusal where the firm prevailed at the refusal hearing and negotiated a conditional plea. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case.
Client Voice
Kugel’s Avvo profile carries 107 client reviews, overwhelmingly positive. One client with a difficult case — highest-bracket BAC, an accident, a blood-test refusal — described her as “a walking encyclopedia when it comes to this stuff.” The same reviewer admitted choosing the firm despite finding the reviews almost suspiciously good, and concluded they were deserved — a piece of skepticism we include because it mirrors the diligence any prospective client should apply. Reviewers on other platforms consistently describe responsiveness and plain-language explanations, with one noting the firm turned a traumatic experience into a bearable one. This research did not surface a pattern of negative reviews or any public disciplinary findings.
Beyond the Courtroom
Kugel’s public-education work is the firm’s most visible community-facing activity: recurring television legal commentary and a YouTube channel explaining DWI law and defendants’ rights in accessible terms. The firm’s stated client philosophy — that it defends rather than judges or lectures — is pitched at the shame that keeps many first-time DWI defendants from mounting a real defense.
Recognition
Kugel was selected to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list from 2013 to 2015, a peer-influenced, research-driven selection by a commercial rating publication — we categorize it as peer-informed recognition, not certification. Her National College for DUI Defense membership reflects engagement with the field’s principal training body, though membership itself is not a certification. 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, and this profile attributes no certification to Kugel.
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 DWI (§ 1192(2)) begins at .08; Aggravated DWI (§ 1192(2-a)(a)) begins at .18. Leandra’s Law makes DWI with a child aged 15 or younger in the vehicle (§ 1192(2-a)(b)) a class E felony on a first offense, and VTL § 1198 mandates ignition interlock devices for misdemeanor and felony DWI convictions. A second DWI within ten years is a felony under § 1193. The refusal track matters enormously in practice: refusing a chemical test triggers a DMV administrative hearing under § 1194 — which must be requested within 15 days — and can cost a driver their license for at least a year regardless of what happens in criminal court. Fines in serious cases can reach $10,000, and a license is suspended at arraignment in per se cases, subject to hardship relief. None of this is legal advice; consult a licensed New York attorney about your situation.
Awesome Attorneys Assessment
The genuine strengths here are focus and accessibility: a DWI-only practice model, two decades in the field, deep familiarity with the two-front criminal-and-DMV structure of New York cases, a dual-state footprint that fits how people in this metro area actually live, and an unusually large, specific, and consistent client review record.
The honest trade-offs, stated plainly: the case-volume figures in the firm’s own materials don’t match each other — hundreds in one place, thousands in another — and a prospective client is entitled to ask which is accurate. The Manhattan office sits in East Harlem at 125th Street, a substantial distance uptown from the downtown criminal courthouse where Manhattan DWI cases are heard; that has no bearing on quality but is worth knowing when planning meetings. And this is a small boutique built around one named attorney — clients should confirm at the strategy session who will actually appear with them in court.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys in August 2026 without the participation, sponsorship, or payment of The Kugel Law Firm. Primary sources: the firm’s website (thekugellawfirm.com), including its New York DWI practice pages. Independent verification: Super Lawyers firm and attorney profiles (office address at 111 East 125th Street and Rising Stars selections 2013–2015); Avvo attorney profile and its 107 client reviews; Lawyer.com biography (NCDD and NACDL memberships, media appearances); Yelp business listing corroborating the Manhattan address. The discrepancy between the firm’s stated case volumes across its own materials is disclosed in the Track Record section rather than resolved silently. 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 The Kugel Law Firm, and inclusion in our editorial coverage cannot be purchased. Our methodology and editorial standards are applied consistently across all firms we cover.