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A NOTE TO READERS. This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys’ editorial team. Cates & Reed, PLLC did not pay for, request, or review this article prior to publication, and placement on Awesome Attorneys’ editorial pages cannot be purchased. Nothing in this article is legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict the outcome of any future case.
At a Glance
| Firm | Cates & Reed, PLLC |
| Founding attorney | Dwane Cates |
| Service area | Phoenix metro, including Scottsdale, Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert, and Glendale |
| Founded | 1997 (per the firm’s own “since 1997” materials, consistent with Cates’s 1997 AZ bar admission) |
| Certification | Board-Certified Specialist in Criminal Law, State Bar of Arizona |
| Education | B.A. summa cum laude, Communication and Persuasion, Arizona State University (1993); J.D., Arizona State University (1996) |
Sources: Justia, Avvo, Lexinter, firm site (dwanecates.com). Compiled August 2026.
Origin
Nearly Three Decades, One Verified Specialty Certification
Dwane Cates earned his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Arizona State University in 1993 and his J.D. from ASU in 1996, where he served on the Trial Advocacy Team. Admitted to the Arizona State Bar in 1997, he has practiced criminal defense continuously since, founding what is now Cates & Reed, PLLC. This profile independently verified his Board Certification in Criminal Law from the Arizona Board of Legal Specialization across multiple third-party sources before using the word “specialist” to describe him. He was honored with the State Bar of Arizona’s Tom Karis Criminal Justice Award, a Bar-conferred recognition distinct from paid marketing designations. Aaron J. Reed, an AV Preeminent-rated, Super Lawyers-recognized attorney, is the firm’s other named partner.
Practice
Serious Felony and Federal Criminal Defense Across the East Valley
The firm’s stated caseload spans the full range of Arizona criminal matters — DUI, drug offenses (including large-quantity narcotics cases), domestic violence, sex crimes, white-collar crimes, and homicide — in both state and federal court, with Cates personally handling cases ranging from major drug prosecutions to first-degree murder. The firm’s practice reaches beyond Phoenix proper into Scottsdale, Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert, and Glendale.
Track Record
As with most criminal defense practices, individual case outcomes are not published as a comparable settlement table. The firm’s own materials describe successful motion practice, early probation termination, and favorable plea outcomes in client-specific accounts, without an independently verifiable case-result compilation located during this research.
Past-Results Disclaimer: Every case is different, and no past result guarantees a similar outcome in any future matter.
Client Voice
Attributed reviews on Justia and Avvo describe Cates as demonstrating “excellent knowledge of the law,” being “very responsive to emails and phone calls,” and one reviewer specifically credited a motion he filed for an early termination of unsupervised probation. No negative reviews were located in the sources reviewed; that reflects the public record available, not a claim of a flawless history.
Community
Cates has spoken publicly, through his own firm’s materials, about his personal recovery from alcoholism — a disclosed personal history the firm frames as informing his empathy toward clients facing difficult circumstances, distinct from his direct legal caseload.
Recognition
Cates’s Arizona Board of Legal Specialization Criminal Law certification was verified across Justia, Avvo, the firm’s own site, and Lexinter’s attorney directory before this profile used “specialist” to describe him. His Tom Karis Criminal Justice Award from the State Bar of Arizona is a Bar-conferred honor. The firm has additionally been recognized by NACDL, the American Bar Association, National Trial Lawyers, and Martindale-Hubbell, according to the firm’s own materials.
The Arizona Legal Backdrop
What follows is general legal information, not legal advice.
Arizona criminal charges are prosecuted under Title 13 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. Arizona’s DUI statutes are found at A.R.S. § 28-1381 et seq., with aggravated DUI penalties under A.R.S. § 28-1383. Federal criminal matters, a stated part of the firm’s practice, proceed under the U.S. Code and Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure rather than state law, a jurisdictional distinction that materially changes defense strategy, available sentencing guidelines, and appellate procedure.
The Awesome Attorneys Assessment
Cates & Reed’s genuine differentiator is Dwane Cates’s verified Board of Legal Specialization certification combined with nearly three decades of continuous criminal defense practice reaching into federal court — a combination of credential and case-type breadth (state misdemeanors through federal homicide) that few solo-founder firms in this category can match. The honest caveat: as with the Alarid profile in this same category, independently verifiable case-outcome statistics beyond firm-published client testimonials were limited in the public sources reviewed, so readers evaluating specific claimed results should ask the firm directly for case-specific detail.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched in August 2026 from Justia’s attorney directory, Avvo’s attorney profile and client reviews, Lexinter’s attorney directory, and the firm’s own site (dwanecates.com). Cates & Reed, PLLC did not commission, review, or pay for this profile.
Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice
This profile is an independent editorial article published by Awesome Attorneys. Awesome Attorneys does not endorse, recommend, or warrant any lawyer or law firm profiled on this site, and inclusion in this series is not paid placement.