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Inside the solo Phoenix practice of an attorney who has sponsored a dedicated DUI awareness presence at the Phoenix Open golf tournament every year since establishing his own firm in 2001.
Michael E. Ziton — At a Glance
| FIRM | Law Offices of Michael E. Ziton, P.C. |
| FOUNDED | 2001, Phoenix — Michael E. Ziton (admitted to the Arizona Bar in 1992) |
| FOUNDER’S BACKGROUND | Former prosecutor, Maricopa County City of Phoenix Prosecutor’s Office; J.D., Whittier College School of Law |
| FOCUS | Criminal defense with a dedicated DUI/drunk-driving docket, statewide |
| OFFICE | 45 W. Jefferson St., Suite 403, Phoenix, AZ 85003 |
| CONTACT | arizonazitonlaw.com |
Origin: Nearly Twenty-Five Years as a Solo Practice
Michael Ziton was admitted to the Arizona Bar in 1992 after earning his J.D. from Whittier College School of Law, and began his career as a prosecutor with the City of Phoenix. He established his own criminal defense practice in 2001 and has run it as a solo practitioner ever since — a notable contrast to several other firms in this category that have scaled into multi-attorney teams. He is admitted to practice in the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
Practice Areas
Ziton’s practice covers the standard range of Arizona criminal defense — drug offenses, domestic violence and assault, sex offenses, probation violations, juvenile matters, criminal traffic — with DUI and drunk-driving defense as a consistently emphasized specialty within that docket, including a dedicated section of his website addressing second-offense DUI sentencing enhancements and aggravated charges involving injury or death (vehicular manslaughter, negligent homicide). With more than 80 jury trials and roughly 25 years of criminal litigation experience, the DUI focus reads as a genuine sub-specialty within a broader criminal practice rather than an incidental service line.
Case Outcomes
Awesome Attorneys did not identify an itemized, dated case-results page for this firm comparable to some others in this batch. The firm’s own materials cite more than 80 jury trials handled and describe Ziton as effective at both trial and pre-trial negotiated resolutions, without breaking results down by case type or outcome.
Past-Results Disclaimer: General experience claims are not a substitute for a case-specific track record. No past result guarantees a similar outcome in any future matter.
Client Voice
Reviews aggregated on Avvo and Lawyer.com describe Ziton as knowledgeable of the local court system and responsive to clients, though Awesome Attorneys found a comparatively thin volume of detailed, specific reviews relative to some other firms in this batch — consistent with a smaller, solo operation.
Community
Ziton’s firm has sponsored a “DUI Task Force” presence around the Phoenix Open golf tournament in Scottsdale in past years, aimed at golf fans who may need representation after a DUI arrest during the event. This is a marketing-adjacent form of community presence rather than pro bono service or policy work, and is noted as such.
Recognition
Ziton’s firm materials describe him as a “Top 100 Trial Lawyer in America” per the National Trial Lawyers Association and a “10-Best” Arizona trial attorney. These are membership-and-nomination-based marketing programs rather than the kind of independent, research-driven peer review that Best Lawyers or Super Lawyers conducts, and Awesome Attorneys was not able to verify an independent, non-membership-based selection process behind either designation. No AV rating, Best Lawyers listing, or Super Lawyers selection was identified for this attorney. Readers should weigh these credentials accordingly — genuine decades of practice and jury trial experience, but without the independent third-party peer review some other firms in this category can show.
The Arizona Legal Backdrop
What follows is general legal information, not legal advice.
Arizona’s core DUI statute, A.R.S. § 28-1381, prohibits driving while impaired to the slightest degree or with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. For a second DUI offense within 84 months of a first, Arizona law significantly enhances mandatory minimum penalties. A.R.S. § 28-1383 covers felony “Aggravated DUI,” and vehicular manslaughter or negligent homicide charges arising from a DUI incident are prosecuted separately under Arizona’s homicide statutes, A.R.S. Title 13, Chapter 11.
The Awesome Attorneys Assessment
Ziton’s genuine strength is longevity and continuity: nearly 25 years running the same solo practice, with a former-prosecutor’s insight into how the Maricopa County system builds its cases. The honest limitation is scale and independent verification — this is a one-attorney operation without the peer-reviewed credentials (Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, AV rating) that several other firms in this category can point to, and the “Top 100” and “10-Best” designations his marketing leans on are membership-program awards rather than independent peer review. This is a fit for someone who wants a single, experienced, dedicated point of contact and is comfortable evaluating the practice on decades of hands-on trial experience rather than third-party rankings.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched in August 2026 from arizonazitonlaw.com, michaelziton.today, Avvo, Justia, Lawyer.com, and Yelp. Awesome Attorneys did not identify a competing “Michael Ziton” practicing criminal law elsewhere that could create identity confusion. The Law Offices of Michael E. Ziton 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.