Practice Areas

Michael Harwin is primarily focused on representing individuals in DUI, Criminal Defense, White Collar and Immigration matters. For the past 15 years Michael Harwin has been providing legal services to the Pima county, Tucson, Marana, Oro Valley, Sahuarita and other cities of Arizona. Michael Harwin’s law firm is located in Downtown Tucson where he spends most of his day preparing for an agressive case against the Tucson City Court’s prosecutors.

DUI and Drug Offenses

DUI, Alcohol & Drug offenses is one of Michael’s most successful areas of practice, and one of his most far-reaching. As Phoenix Assistant City Prosecutor, Michael completed 48 DUI jury trials in 22 months. In private practice, Michael has handled hundreds of DUI cases over 15 years. He now focuses his practice on defending licensed professionals, particularly those who face disciplinary sanctions before state-licensing agencies. For these professionals, a misdemeanor DUI can prove to be potentially career-ending, and almost always career-damaging.

Michael is highly-skilled in navigating the intricacies of professional licensing tribunals and the criminal courts, providing counsel and insight to accomplished professionals who cannot afford a criminal record.

Moreover, Michael boasts one of the best track records in the business. Highly skilled in constitutional issues, Michael tends to litigate aggressively on 4th and 5th Amendment and discovery issues pretrial, with provable, measurable results. Click HERE to see Recent Results. Unlike other attorneys, Michael does not list misleading results; rather every litigated dismissal he lists is based on a dispositive motion crafted and filed by him. Learn More about Michael’s DUI Defense.


Criminal Defense

As his primary area, Michael handles a range of criminal matters in federal, state, and local courts. He has tried over 70 cases to juries, and has appeared before almost every court in Southern and Central Arizona as privately-retained counsel for individuals and corporations.

Considered a highly skilled and aggressive advocate, Michael is routinely referred matters by the largest law firms in Arizona to care for their valued clients.

Criminal Defense for Health Care Professionals

As part of his administrative and licensing practice, Michael represents numerous MDs, RNs, NPs and other healthcare professionals in a wide spectrum of criminal and administrative matters ranging from DEA investigations to credentialing and internal matters. His skill in addressing the unique needs of and tremendous pressures facing health care professionals today has made him trusted counsel to many local health care providers. Learn More About Michael’s Criminal Defense Practice.


White Collar Crime

Michael’s white-collar practice focuses largely on matters concerning international trade, real estate development and financing, and tax. He has worked with both the FDA Office of Criminal Investigation, and the FDA Center for Applied Nutrition and Food (CFSAN) in Washington D.C., as well as the FDA Office of General Counsel. Michael has also worked extensively with United States Customs on both commercial importation and exportation matters, and has handled matters involving a host of international agencies.

Michael also frequently advises and defends clients  in real-estate development and financing investigations, largely within Arizona. While advocating for his clients’ interests, he has worked with both the US HUD Office of Inspector General; the US Department of Justice; the FBI; the Arizona Attorney General and other agencies in matters related to bank, mortgage and consumer fraud. Michael also has represented both individuals and corporations within the mortgage and investment industry to respond to a range of investigations.

Michael’s tax practice is comprehensive, extending from large preindictment IRS criminal investigations involving off-shore banking to post-assessment and post-judgment IRS liens and levys. He has handled both employment and income tax matters for individuals and corporations before the IRS and Arizona Department of Revenue.

Commercial Litigation

Michael often served as lead counsel in white collar matters where related civil and administrative matters are pending simultaneously. Having learned to navigate the treacherous waters of parallel proceedings, Michael has worked extensively with corporate counsel to make strategic and tactical decisions aimed at minimizing exposure and preserving assets, reputation, confidentiality, and the viability of troubled businesses faced with multiple investigations and civil suits.

In order to effectively represent firms in such complex litigation, Michael both learns the painstaking details of his clients’ business practices and relevant industry standards, and the nuances of civil and administrative procedure, particularly relating to discovery.

As an outgrowth of this area of practice, Michael often has been called upon to represent individuals and corporations in commercial litigation, often, but not always, involving an interpretation of a state or federal criminal code. Learn More About Michael’s White Collar Crime Practice.