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Deandra Grant Law: The Attorney Who Grades the Exams That Certify Other DWI Lawyers

Most DWI attorneys can tell you how a breathalyzer works. Deandra Grant holds a master’s degree in pharmaceutical science and a graduate certificate in forensic toxicology, and she personally administers and grades the board certification exams that certify other DWI defense attorneys nationally. This Austin criminal defense attorney firm’s Austin office draws on forensic science credentials that go well beyond a typical continuing-education course.

At a Glance: Austin Criminal Defense Attorney Firm Overview

Origin & Background

Deandra Grant graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio in 1990 and earned her J.D. from Southern Methodist University School of Law in 1993. Unusually for a criminal defense attorney, she returned to graduate school decades into her career, earning a Master’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Science with a concentration in Forensic Science, and a Graduate Certificate in Forensic Toxicology, both from the University of Florida in 2016. She also completed operator certification training on the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath-test machine and has participated in controlled alcohol-dosing experiments studying how alcohol actually affects testing accuracy. The firm — with offices across North and Central Texas including Dallas, Denton, Allen, Fort Worth, Rockwall, Waco, and Austin — has tried more than 500 cases to verdict over more than three decades.

Practice Concentration

The firm’s practice is deliberately limited to DWI and serious criminal defense, a scope restriction the firm frames as necessary to sustain the forensic depth and courtroom experience these specific case types demand. Grant’s science background lets the firm challenge retrograde extrapolation calculations at the pharmacokinetic level in DWI cases, and evaluate a lab’s drug identification and quantification methodology at the chemistry level in drug cases — a level of technical challenge most criminal defense firms cannot mount independently.

Notable Work

The firm reports more than 500 cases tried to verdict across North and Central Texas over Grant’s career, though it does not publish a structured, itemized verdicts table specific to the Austin office. One published Austin-area client review specifically credited the firm’s Travis County team with securing a dismissal and no conviction. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case, and case-volume figures are as reported by the firm.

Client Voice

Grant holds a 10.0 rating on both Avvo and Justia, and an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell specifically for her DWI-law contributions. A client review specific to the Austin office described searching for a “DWI Lawyer in Austin, TX / Travis County,” finding the firm, and working with a named team member through to a full dismissal, closing with “Trust Deandra Grant Law to represent you!!” Another client credited attorney Douglas Huff with “exceptional investigative and research abilities, uncovering details and nuances we never would have found on our own.” The firm’s published reviews are presented as verified client feedback drawn from cases across multiple Texas counties, not Austin exclusively.

Beyond the Courtroom

Grant authored The Texas DWI Manual, now in its tenth-plus edition, a reference work other Texas defense attorneys rely on, and has written 17 legal books and guides in total. She is president emeritus of the DUI Defense Lawyers Association, a past president of the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and has served on the board of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. She personally administers and grades the ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist and DUIDLA board certification exams — meaning she evaluates the same credentialing process other DWI attorneys nationally are tested on.

Recognition

Grant has been named a Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters continuously since 2011 and holds the ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist designation from the American Chemical Society — a scientific credential distinct from, and in addition to, standard legal peer-review awards. This profile does not describe Grant as a Texas Board of Legal Specialization “specialist” because that specific state credential was not confirmed in available public materials; her documented forensic science credentials and Super Lawyers recognition stand on their own without needing that additional label.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Texas DWI is governed by Texas Penal Code Chapter 49; a first offense is generally a Class B misdemeanor, escalating to a Class A misdemeanor with a prior conviction, an open container, or a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or above, and to a felony with a third conviction or a child under 15 in the vehicle. Under Texas Transportation Code § 724.011, a driver arrested for DWI is deemed to have given “implied consent” to a breath or blood test; refusal triggers a separate Administrative License Revocation process with a strict 15-day deadline to request a hearing, independent of the criminal case timeline. This is general background information, not legal advice, and does not account for the specific facts of any case.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

A managing partner with a genuine graduate-level science background in forensic toxicology — not a marketing claim, but an actual master’s degree and a credentialing role that puts her on the evaluating side of other attorneys’ DWI certifications — is about as concrete a technical differentiator as this directory has found in Austin’s DWI market. The firm’s deliberate scope restriction to DWI and serious criminal defense, rather than a broad general practice, reinforces that specialization claim structurally.

The honest trade-off: this is a multi-office, multi-city firm headquartered in Dallas rather than a dedicated Austin boutique, so a Central Texas client should confirm which specific attorney at the Austin office will handle their case and whether that attorney shares Grant’s specific forensic credentials, since her personal expertise doesn’t automatically transfer to every attorney across seven offices. The firm’s marketing also leans heavily on Grant’s individual reputation, which is a real asset but also a concentration risk relative to a firm with several equally credentialed local partners.

Methodology & Sourcing

This profile was compiled from the firm’s own website (texasdwisite.com), including its about-us, attorney biography, and client reviews pages, D Magazine’s sponsored profile of Deandra Grant, Super Lawyers’ attorney profile, and the Cornell Law lawyer directory listing confirming the firm’s Austin office and contact information.

Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independently researched legal directory. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Deandra Grant Law prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to firms profiled on this site, but sponsorship status has no bearing on editorial content, and inclusion in this directory is not an endorsement of any firm for any particular legal matter. Nothing in this profile constitutes legal advice or a lawyer referral; readers with a legal question should consult a licensed Texas attorney directly.