Specialties
With four attorneys and over 140 years of combined legal experience, we offer bilingual services in English and Spanish. We have handled thousands of cases and hundreds of trials. When your freedom is on the line, experience matters. We handle every sort of criminal case out there. The firm has a bit of an emphasis on the "three D's" (DUI cases, Drug cases, and Domestic Violence [battery] cases). That said, we handle all criminal matters from sex crimes, property crimes like burglary and theft, fraud cases, and cases involving the use of force, from aggravated battery, or robbery to murder. Not many criminal defense firms can claim they have handled thousands of cases and hundreds of trials.
History
Established in 1980.
The business has gone through several name changes and iterations over the years. Attorneys have come and gone. The four lawyers currently (2025) with the firm have open 140 years of combined experience. We have three former prosecutors, a former Police Sgt., a former General Counsel to a large Sheriff's Office, and a Police Legal Advisor to a dozen police agencies. We even have a former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Florida and a professor in the graduate Criminal Justice Program at Rollins. In the past 45 years, we have handled thousands of cases throughout Central Florida and done hundreds of trials. The depth and breadth of our experience is what sets us apart.
Meet the Business Owner: Hal U.
For years, I was on the "other side" of the criminal justice system. I was a police officer, a police Sgt., and a police attorney (for a dozen different agencies over a 5 year period). I was a prosecutor in three different judicial circuits, and then Assistant Attorney General for the State of Florida in Tallahassee. Even while on "the other side," I realized how powerless arrestees felt. Regular people charged with crimes had their entire lives upended. Careers and even their freedom were at risk. They needed help, and they needed it now. The opportunity to help these people navigate the terrifying landscape called the "Criminal Justice System" has been my privilege and my passion for over four decades. Using my training and experience to save people from injustice is the most satisfying thing an attorney can do. The other team members at The Defense Group, share this passion!