Defender. Litigator. Western New York’s Own.

Michael Cimasi is the DWI TEAM’s attorney in Western New York. He defends clients facing DWI, criminal charges, traffic violations, and license issues, and he does it in courts across Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Orleans, and Wyoming counties.

Michael has spent more than a decade in Western New York criminal courts, both retained and assigned. Over those years, he’s defended a wide range of cases — DWI and drug charges, domestic violence, sex offenses, white-collar matters, and commercial and non-commercial traffic and Department of Transportation cases. That volume of courtroom time in the same counties matters. He knows the local judges, he knows the local prosecutors, and he knows how a case actually moves in the town and city courts where most DWI charges get resolved.

He also litigates Article 78 proceedings against state agencies, including the New York State DMV. After all, a DWI arrest is really two problems at once: the criminal charge and the license. Michael handles both. For clients, that means one lawyer managing the courtroom and the administrative fight over whether they keep driving.

Michael earned his law degree from the University at Buffalo School of Law. Today, he’s admitted to practice in New York and Texas, as well as before the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. On top of his casework, he belongs to the New York State Defenders Association and serves on the board of the Erie County Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyers Project. Through that program, he has taken pro bono criminal defense assignments in Western New York courts since 2016.

That work has not gone unnoticed. Super Lawyers named Michael a Rising Star in 2019 and 2020, a list limited to no more than 2.5% of attorneys in New York. In 2017 the Bar Association of Erie County recognized him with its Pro Bono Award for eviction defense work in Buffalo Housing Court, and he earned Avvo’s Clients’ Choice Award the same year. He currently carries a 9.0 rating from Avvo, which that service classifies as Superb.

Michael is also the founder of Cimasi Law Office in Amherst, New York, and serves DWI TEAM clients across Western New York in an Of Counsel capacity.

“Most of my clients have never been in trouble before, and the fear is worse than the charge. My job is to explain exactly what is happening, tell them the truth about their options, and then go do the work.”