The Law Office of Gary Kaufman: The Career Public Defender Who Teaches Other Lawyers Drunk-Driving Defense

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.

Nearly every lawyer in this category learned criminal law by prosecuting. Gary Kaufman learned it the other way: seven years as a public defender — Orlando, then Staten Island, then the nationally recognized Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem — trying cases at a pace that outran his colleagues before opening his own Manhattan practice in 2013. He is also one of the few lawyers in this category who teaches drunk-driving defense itself: his continuing-legal-education instruction to other attorneys includes a course on exactly that.

At a Glance

Firm	The Law Office of Gary Kaufman, PLLC (founded 2013)
Principal Attorney	Gary M. Kaufman
Office	Manhattan, New York, NY — a precise street address is not published in the sources consulted, a gap we disclose
Focus	Criminal defense in New York and New Jersey state and federal courts — traffic crimes and DWI through drug, violent, sexual, and white-collar offenses — plus student disciplinary and Title IX representation
Background	Career public defender: Office of the Public Defender, Ninth Judicial Circuit (Orlando); Staten Island Legal Defense Services (felony attorney); Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem
Education	Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (J.D. 2006); admitted in New York and New Jersey since 2007
Fee Structure	Consultation required; no published fee schedule located

Career History

Kaufman’s formation was volume trial work for indigent clients: seven jury trials in his first year at the Orlando public defender’s office, winning the majority; promotion to felony attorney at Staten Island Legal Defense Services, where he was the office’s point person on Judicial Diversion for narcotics felonies; then the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, whose holistic model added school-suspension representation to his felony and misdemeanor docket. He opened his own firm in 2013. Alongside the practice he teaches Fundamental Lawyering Skills as an adjunct professor at Fordham University School of Law, has been trained through the National Criminal Defense College’s Trial College and Advanced Cross-Examination programs, was named a mentor in the Eastern District of New York’s Criminal Justice Act program, was appointed to the Joint EDNY-SDNY Local Rules Committee, and has held New York City Bar Association leadership roles including past chair of the Small Law Firm Committee and service on the Council on the Profession; his firm also reports a City Bar board chairmanship, which we attribute as reported.

Practice Concentration

The practice spans the full criminal spectrum in two states’ courts — his own materials lead the charge list with traffic crimes and DWI — plus a distinctive student-discipline and Title IX line grown from his Harlem years. The DWI credential here is pedagogical, which in our view is among the strongest kinds: Kaufman has taught continuing legal education to other criminal defense attorneys on Drunk Driving Defense specifically, alongside courses on arraignment advocacy, grand jury practice, and narcotics diversion — you do not get asked to teach a subject to practicing lawyers without genuine command of it. His Super Lawyers selection designates DUI/DWI among his practice areas, and the public-defender formation means high-volume experience with exactly the arraignment-part conditions in which most New York DWI cases begin.

Track Record

The verifiable record is trial-centric: majority-win jury trial records reported at two public defender offices, dozens of cases tried overall, and a published 2024 result — a client found not responsible for sexual assault and dating violence after a university Title IX hearing. These are firm- and profile-reported outcomes, attributed as such; the firm publishes no DWI-specific dispositions ledger, and this research did not independently verify individual outcomes. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case.

Client Voice

A consolidated consumer-review base for this practice did not surface in our research — the firm’s public standing runs through peer and institutional channels instead: the CJA mentorship, the federal rules committee appointment, the Fordham adjunct post, and City Bar leadership. We disclose the thin consumer-review record plainly rather than paper over it; prospective clients should ask the firm directly for references. This research did not surface any public disciplinary findings.

Beyond the Courtroom

Kaufman’s public-service throughline is unusually consistent for private practice: a career built in indigent defense, ongoing CJA mentorship of lawyers representing the indigent in federal court, teaching the next generation at Fordham, CLE instruction for the practicing bar, and City Bar governance service. His student-discipline practice extends the same posture — treating a school suspension hearing, as his materials put it, with trial-level seriousness.

Recognition

The recognitions here are largely institutional rather than promotional, and we weight them accordingly: the EDNY CJA mentorship and Joint EDNY-SDNY Local Rules Committee appointment are conferred by the federal courts; the Fordham adjunct appointment by a law school; the City Bar roles by the profession’s own institutions. His Super Lawyers selection, with DUI/DWI among designated areas, is peer-informed recognition from a commercial publication. 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 Kaufman.

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, and a chemical-test refusal triggers a separate DMV hearing under § 1194 that can revoke a license for at least a year regardless of the criminal outcome. Most New York City DWI cases begin at arraignment within twenty-four hours of arrest — the exact court part where a public defender’s volume experience is earned — and end in negotiated dispositions shaped by the arraignment posture. None of this is legal advice; consult a licensed New York attorney about your situation.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

The distinctive value: the category’s only career-public-defender formation, trial volume most private practitioners never accumulate, a DWI-defense teaching credential that independently evidences subject command, two-state and federal reach, and institutional standing conferred by courts and the organized bar rather than purchased from award mills.

The honest trade-offs, stated plainly: this is a solo practice and a criminal-defense generalist with a taught-but-not-exclusive DWI line, not a DWI boutique; no NCDD affiliation or prosecutorial background appears in the record; the consumer-review base is thin, so the ordinary client experience is harder to independently assess; and the firm publishes neither a street address in the sources we consulted nor a fee schedule — both worth confirming at first contact.

Methodology & Sourcing

This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys in August 2026 without the participation, sponsorship, or payment of The Law Office of Gary Kaufman, PLLC. Primary sources: the firm’s website (garykaufmanlaw.com), including the biography and announcements pages. Independent verification: Super Lawyers attorney and firm profiles (DUI/DWI practice designation; NYC Bar Small Law Firm Committee past chairmanship; Fordham adjunct role; the 2024 Title IX result; 2007 admissions in New York and New Jersey); Lawline instructor biography (Cardozo 2006; the public-defender career arc through Orlando, Staten Island, and the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem; CLE courses taught including Drunk Driving Defense); LinkedIn (Joint EDNY-SDNY Local Rules Committee appointment). The absence of a published street address, fee schedule, and consolidated consumer-review base is disclosed above. 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 Law Office of Gary Kaufman, PLLC, and inclusion in our editorial coverage cannot be purchased. Our methodology and editorial standards are applied consistently across all firms we cover.