Best of 2026 List of Texas DWI Lawyers Released

Fort Worth lawyerNamed Best DWI Lawyer in Texas in 2026 Statewide Rankings

FORT WORTH, TX, UNITED STATES, September 17, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Benson Varghese, managing partner of Varghese Summersett, has been ranked the #1 DWI defense attorney in Texas in the 2026 Texas DWI Rankings published at https://bestdwilawyertexas.com/. The rankings score attorneys in nine major Texas cities on a 100-point system that uses only criteria anyone can verify.

Varghese scored 89. That is 7 points ahead of the second-ranked attorney and 20 points above the average of the nine attorneys ranked (68.8).

The analysis looked at six areas: client reviews, board certification, prosecutor experience, experience with serious DWI cases, forensic training and peer recognition. Varghese earned a perfect score in four of the six. No other attorney on the list had more than three.

Client reviews: 20 of 20, the only perfect score. Varghese Summersett has more than 1,400 five-star Google reviews. That is over four times as many as any other attorney on the list. The next highest was 320.

Former prosecutor: 15 of 15. He is one of only two attorneys in the rankings who earned credit here. He prosecuted cases in Tarrant County before moving to defense work. Seven of the nine ranked attorneys got no points in this category.

Serious DWI cases: 15 of 15, the only perfect score. This covered documented work on intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault, repeat DWI offenses and DWI with a child passenger. The analysis also noted a not-guilty verdict he won in a DWI case with a .359 blood alcohol concentration, more than four times the legal limit.

Awards and peer recognition: 15 of 15.

Forensic training: 9 of 10.

Board certification: 15 of 25. He is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

What the numbers show

The results point to what separates the top of the field. The second-ranked attorney, Mark Thiessen of Houston, earned the only perfect board certification score (25 of 25) but no points for prosecutor experience. Varghese's lead came from something few defense lawyers have: years on the prosecution side, a large record of the hardest DWI cases, and a volume of client reviews no other firm on the list came close to.

Prosecutor experience was the category that most divided the field. Only Varghese and Warren Abrams of Dallas, a former Chief Prosecutor in Dallas County, received credit. Both finished in the top four.

"A DWI case is won or lost on how well you understand the State's evidence: the traffic stop, the field sobriety tests, the breath and blood results," Varghese said. "I learned how those cases get built as a prosecutor. Now our team uses that to take them apart. But the number I'm proudest of is the reviews. Every one of those is a client who trusted us at one of the worst moments of their life."

The 2026 rankings

Rank Attorney City Score
1 Benson Varghese, Varghese Summersett Fort Worth 89
2 Mark Thiessen, Thiessen Law Firm Houston 82
3 George Scharmen, Law Offices of George Scharmen San Antonio 76
4 Warren Abrams, Abrams Trial Law Dallas 72
5 Stephen Hamilton, Texas Criminal Defense Group Lubbock 63
6 Phillip W. Goff, Law Office of Phillip W. Goff Corpus Christi 62
7 Walter M. Reaves Jr., Law Office of Walter M. Reaves, Jr. Waco 61
8 David B. Frank, Law Office of David B. Frank Austin 59
9 Brock Morgan Benjamin, Benjamin Law Firm El Paso 55

The full rankings and methodology are at bestdwilawyertexas.com.

Ricardo S
DWI Lawyer Rankings
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