When you face a criminal charge or a DUI arrest, you want to know the lawyer standing next to you is willing to fight. That belief sits at the center of how we practice at Katz & Phillips, and it started with a moment that changed the course of David S. Katz’s career.
For several years, David worked as a prosecutor in Seminole County. Day after day, he watched private attorneys walk into court, stand beside their clients, and plead them guilty without much of a fight. Over time, that scene bothered him more and more. As David puts it in his own words, “It kind of disturbed me, and eventually I kind of had had enough, and I decided to go into private practice on my own.”
If you want to hear how that moment shaped the way we handle cases today, watch David tell the story himself:
Why David Left The Prosecutor’s Office & What That Means For You
In the video, David talks about what he saw from the other side of the courtroom. He remembers watching lawyers who would appear with a client, speak briefly, enter a guilty plea, and move on. That approach did not sit right with him.
He draws a clear line between that experience and the way we practice now: “One of the big differences between our firm and many other criminal defense law firms. We fight for our clients. We don’t take money just to plea people guilty because it’s easier for us. We actually earn the money we’re paid.”
Those are not marketing lines. They come from someone who decided he would rather leave a government job than keep watching people go through the system without a real defense. That choice is part of what defines our culture at Katz & Phillips.
How David Describes The Way We Treat Clients
Credentials matter, but so does how your lawyer sees you. In the video, David explains how we look at the people who trust us with their freedom: “We fight very hard for every one of our clients, and we treat people like they’re our relatives, and we fight for them like we would want somebody to fight for us.”
That simple statement says a lot about who he is. When David talks about cases, he does not talk in terms of file numbers or statistics. He thinks about real people and families sitting in the courtroom, wondering what happens next. That perspective guides the way we answer questions, the time we spend on a case, and the strategies we build for each person who comes to us for help.
From Courtroom Turning Point To Recognized DUI Defense Leader
David’s path after leaving the prosecutor’s office shows how seriously he takes that commitment. As a founding partner of Katz & Phillips, he has spent years in criminal courtrooms, with a strong focus on DUI and firearms cases. He brings that same energy from the video into every case he handles.
Over the years, he has earned national recognition in DUI defense.* He is one of only four board certified* DUI Defense professionals in the state of Florida and has gone on to receive recognition as a Senior DUI Defense professional after a decade of holding that certification. These are not titles he keeps to himself. He serves on the Board of Directors and as a Faculty member of the National College for DUI Defense, where he helps shape how other lawyers handle DUI cases across the country.
David also travels nationwide to teach attorneys how to defend DUI charges. He has been the featured speaker at Continuing Legal Education seminars that focus on DUI issues, speaking to lawyers throughout Florida and across the United States. On top of that, he has authored or co-authored nine books on DUI defense, including manuals other attorneys rely on when they prepare for court.
*DUI is not recognized as a specialized area of law by the Florida Bar. Although David holds board certification in DUI Defense from the National College for DUI Defense, which the American Bar Association accredits as the only organization nationally recognized to confer such certification, he is not certified as a specialist by the Florida Bar.
Using Prosecutor Experience To Build Strong Defenses
David’s time as a prosecutor still shapes how he defends people today. As a former Assistant State Attorney and DUI / Intoxilyzer Lead Attorney with the Seminole County State Attorney’s Office, he prosecuted criminal cases in both Orange and Seminole Counties. That role gave him a close look at how the state builds a case, what evidence they rely on, and where weaknesses often appear.
Chosen by the Florida Prosecuting Attorney’s Association, David trained new prosecutors across the state in DUI trial skills. That experience now works in reverse. The same insight he once used to help prosecutors prepare for trial now helps him anticipate how the state may approach your case, and how to respond.
His work as the Seminole County Intoxilyzer Attorney gave him unique training with the Intoxilyzer 8000, the breath-testing device used in many DUI cases. He had access to the manufacturer and gained a detailed understanding of how the device functions. Today, he uses that knowledge to examine breath-test evidence and to look for problems that might affect the outcome of a DUI charge.
Why His Peers & Clients Continue To Recognize His Work
The story you hear in the video is backed by years of recognition from clients and other lawyers. While David has collected many personal honors, he points first to something bigger than himself. He is most proud that our firm was named criminal defense firm of the year for North Central Florida by U.S. Business News from 2018 through 2021. That award reflects the combined effort of the entire team at Katz & Phillips and our shared focus on serving clients well.
His individual honors also tell a clear story about consistency and client care. In 2018, he appeared in the top 1% of the Most Honored Professionals in America. Every year since 2013, he has received the Client Distinction Award from Martindale-Hubbell, an honor fewer than 4% of more than 900,000 attorneys receive nationally. Since 2017, Martindale-Hubbell has rated him AV Preeminent, their highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards.
Online ratings reflect the same pattern. David has held a 10.0 Superb rating on Avvo every year since 2011 and received Avvo’s Client Choice Award in 2012. U.S. Business News named him Best DUI Defense Attorney – Orlando in both 2018 and 2019. He has appeared in Super Lawyers since 2019 and was listed as a Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2013 through 2017. Martindale-Hubbell has also honored him with the Client Champion Award since 2017.
How David’s Story Shapes The Way We Help Clients
When you put the video and the biography together, a clear picture emerges. You meet a lawyer who saw something in the courtroom he refused to accept, walked away from a prosecutor role, and built a practice around doing the opposite. You see someone who says, without hesitation, that “we don’t take money just to plea people guilty because it’s easier for us” and who backs that promise with decades of courtroom work, teaching, and writing.
At Katz & Phillips, that mindset does not stop with one attorney. It influences how we train our team, how we review evidence, and how we talk with clients who are scared about what comes next. When David says we “treat people like they’re our relatives” and “fight for them like we would want somebody to fight for us,” he describes the standard we hold ourselves to every day.
If you or someone you care about faces a DUI or another criminal charge, and you want to talk with a team shaped by that kind of commitment, call us at (321) 425-8961. After you watch David’s video and hear his story in his own words, you will already have a sense of the person on the other end of the line.
