Deandra M. Grant

You Found This Page Because Something Went Wrong

Maybe it happened last night. Maybe it was last week. But somewhere between the flashing lights in your rearview mirror and the moment you started searching for a lawyer, the life you’ve built started to feel like it was slipping away.

I know that feeling. Not because I’ve been in your shoes—but because I’ve sat across the table from thousands of people who have. Teachers, nurses, engineers, pilots, parents, executives, veterans. Good people who made a mistake, or who got caught up in a system that doesn’t always get it right.

I’ve spent over 30 years learning everything I can about DWI defense—not just the law, but the science behind it—so that when you walk into my office, I can look you in the eye and give you an honest assessment of where you stand. And then fight like hell to get you the best outcome possible.

That’s not a tagline. That’s my life’s work.

A Plano Kid with a Work Ethic

I was born in Denton, but I grew up in Plano—a proud graduate of Plano Senior High School. My family has lived for generations in and around Gainesville, Texas. We’re Texans through and through.

I started working young. Not because I had to, but because it was in my blood. I was the social director at a teen nightclub. I clerked at a dress shop. And at one point, I was the owner and manager of a New Orleans-style sno-cone stand called Mr Sno Ball. If you grew up in Plano in the ’80s, there’s a chance I served you a Tiger’s Blood sno-cone.

Those jobs taught me something law school never could: how to talk to people, how to listen, and how to work harder than the person standing next to you.

After high school, I attended Trinity University in San Antonio, where I earned my B.S. in Business Administration in 1990. Then I came back home to Dallas for law school at SMU. I earned my law degree and was licensed by the State Bar of Texas in 1993.

I Started on the Other Side

During my last year of law school, I interned at the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office. That experience changed everything. I saw how the system worked from the inside. I watched prosecutors build cases, and I watched defendants who didn’t have anyone truly fighting for them.

After graduation, I joined the DA’s Office as an assistant district attorney in January 1994. My focus? DWI prosecution.

I learned how prosecutors think. I learned how they build cases, where they cut corners, and where their evidence is weakest. That experience became the foundation of everything I do today—because when you know how the other side builds their case, you know exactly where to take it apart.

By 1995, I’d made a decision. I didn’t want to be the person putting people into the system. I wanted to be the person standing between the system and the people it was trying to crush.

I founded my own firm that year. I’ve been defending Texans accused of DWI and other crimes every day since.

Most Lawyers Argue the Law. I Argue the Science.

Early in my career, I started winning DWI cases that other attorneys said were “unwinnable.” Not because I was a better talker in the courtroom—but because I started asking a question that most defense attorneys never ask: Is the science actually right?

That question sent me down a path that has consumed more than 15 years of my professional life and fundamentally changed how I practice law.

In 2008, I completed the NHTSA Standardized Field Sobriety Testing course—the same program that teaches police officers how to identify impaired drivers during traffic stops. The following year, I completed the instructor course. Today, I serve as an SFST instructor, training other attorneys in the same techniques officers are taught. I know what the officer was supposed to do during your traffic stop—and I know when they didn’t do it.

That same year, I traveled to Atlanta for specialized coursework in forensic blood and urine testing. The more I learned about how blood evidence was collected and analyzed, the more I realized how many things can go wrong—and how few defense attorneys knew enough to challenge it.

In 2011, I began advanced training at Axion Labs in Chicago, studying forensic chromatography, forensic drug analysis, and forensic driving under the influence of drugs. I completed the coursework, passed the final exam in 2015, and was awarded the American Chemical Society CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist designation—becoming the first attorney in the state of Texas to earn this certification.

Let me say that again, because it matters: I was the first lawyer in Texas to pass the exam certifying competence in the forensic science used to convict people of DWI.

In 2018, Axion Labs invited me to join their faculty as an assistant chromatography instructor. I now teach other professionals the science I use to defend my clients.

But I wasn’t done. I went back to school—this time at the University of Florida—and earned a Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Science and a Graduate Certificate in Forensic Toxicology. I also became a certified Intoxilyzer 5000 operator and maintenance technician and joined the faculty of Axion Labs as an Assistant Chromatography Instructor and the Borkenstein Drug Course, the premier program for understanding how drugs and alcohol affect the human body.

I’ve also participated in numerous “dosing” experiments—studies where volunteers are given specific amounts of alcohol and then tested to observe the effects. I don’t just read about impairment in textbooks. I’ve watched it, measured it, and studied it firsthand.

“When I challenge your blood test result, I’m not bluffing. I’m reading the same chromatograms the lab analyst reads—and I know when they got it wrong.”

I Wrote the Book. Literally.

In 2011, I began writing The Texas DWI Manual for James Publishing. I call it my “labor of love.” The first edition was released in 2013, and it is updated annually. It is now considered a must-have resource for attorneys defending DWI cases in Texas.

Think about what that means for your case: the reference manual that other DWI lawyers in Texas turn to when they need answers—I wrote it. And I continue to write it. In addition to The Texas DWI Manual, I’ve authored more than 14 books on DWI law and defense.

I don’t say this to brag. I say it because when you’re looking for someone to defend you against a DWI charge, it matters whether your attorney is learning the law as they go—or whether they literally wrote the book on it.

I See the Person Behind the Case Number

Here’s something most people don’t know about Deandra Grant Law: We brought mitigation evaluations to our firm for all of our clients.

What does that mean? It means that when I take your case, I don’t just look at the police report and the lab results. I take the time to understand who you are. Your background, your family, your career, your struggles, what led to this moment, and what you’ve been doing to move forward.

We prepare comprehensive biographical mitigation reports—documents that tell your story to the judge and the prosecutor in a way that humanizes you beyond a case number. These reports include validated clinical assessments—the PHQ-9 for depression, the GAD-7 for anxiety, the PC-PTSD-5 for trauma, and the AUDIT-C for alcohol use—that provide objective, measurable evidence of what you’re going through.

Most law firms would charge you $3,500 to $5,000 for an outside specialist to prepare this kind of report. At Deandra Grant Law, it’s included in our representation at no additional charge. Because I believe the person matters as much as the evidence.

30+ Years of Fighting for Texans

Since 1994, my firm has defended thousands of Texans charged with DWI, criminal offenses, violent felonies, and federal crimes. We now have six offices across Texas—in Dallas, Fort Worth, Allen, Denton, Waco and Rockwall —with a team of dedicated attorneys including Douglas Huff (partner and Chief of the Criminal Division), Kevin Sheneberger, Omar Sherif, Jada Fairley and Of Counsel James Lee Bright.

I’m not a solo practitioner trying to do everything alone. I’ve built a team. And every attorney on my team benefits from the training, the systems, and the forensic expertise that I’ve spent three decades developing.

What My Peers Say

I’m AV® Preeminent™ Rated by Martindale-Hubbell—the highest rating an attorney can receive for professional achievement and ethical standards. I’ve been named a Texas Super Lawyer every year since 2011. I’m rated 10.0 by both AVVO and Justia.

D Magazine has named me one of the Best Women Lawyers in Dallas, one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas, and a Top 10 DWI Lawyer in Dallas multiple times. Fort Worth Magazine has recognized me as a Top Lawyer.

But the recognition I’m most proud of comes from my colleagues in the legal profession. I was elected President of the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in 2022. I serve as President-Emeritus and Executive Director of the DUI Defense Lawyers Association. I’m a board member of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. I’m a Founding Member and Executive Director of the Dallas Criminal Defense Bar.

I have guest-lectured at law schools—SMU, Texas Tech, Texas A&M—and I present at national seminars hosted by the ABA, TCDLA, and DUIDLA. I’m a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the American Chemical Society, the Society of Toxicology and the International Association of Forensic Toxicology Consultants.

I’m telling you this for one reason: when I walk into a courtroom on your behalf, every prosecutor and every judge in that building knows exactly who I am and what I bring to the table.

Outside the Courtroom

I’ve been married to my husband, Eric Clendenin, for over 20 years. We have two (now grown) children, Keegan and Rowan. When I’m not practicing law, I’m deeply involved with animal rescue. I serve as Vice President of Living the Doxie Dream Rescue & Sanctuary in Royse City, Texas. At home, Eric and I have five rescue dachshunds—you can follow their adventures at @5WienerPack on Instagram.

Every year, our firm hosts the Dog Days of Summer Seminar, a legal education event that doubles as a fundraiser for rescue organizations. We also run the DGL Second Chances College Scholarship, because I believe that one mistake shouldn’t define a person’s future.

That’s not a slogan. It’s something I prove every single day in the courtroom.

If You’re Reading This at 2 AM

If you’re reading this page right now because you just got arrested, or because someone you love just called you from a holding cell, or because you’re sitting at your kitchen table wondering how a DWI is going to affect your job, your family, your nursing license, your security clearance, your CDL, your future—

Take a breath. You are not alone. And it is not too late.

I have spent 30 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in advanced training building the most scientifically credentialed DWI defense practice in Texas. I did it for exactly this moment—the moment someone like you needs someone like me.

Call us. We’ll listen. We’ll give you an honest assessment. And if we’re the right fit, we’ll fight for you with everything we’ve got.

For Deandra Grant‘s entire Curriculum Vitae (‘Resume’), click here.

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