| Steven Oberman | |
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Steven Oberman |
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| Born | 1955 (age 56–57) |
| Website | |
| The Oberman Law Firm | |
Steven Oberman (born 1955) is an American attorney, author, and teacher. He is the managing attorney at the Oberman & Rice Law Firm in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he has been designated a specialist in the area of Driving Under the Influence Defense Law by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education.
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A graduate of Auburn University and the University of Tennessee College of Law, Oberman was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 1980 and began practicing law in Knoxville that same year. In 1999 Oberman was one of the first in the United States certified as a DUI defense specialist by the National College for DUI Defense.[1]
In 2006, Oberman became the first Tennessee lawyer to be recognized as a Certified Specialist in the area of DUI Defense Law by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education, and he is currently the only certified DUI defense specialist in Tennessee.[2]
Oberman began practicing law in East Tennessee in 1980. Notably, he began his career at the Knoxville law firm Daniel, Duncan & Claiborne, where he worked alongside John J. Duncan, Jr., who has represented Tennessee's 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives since 1988.[3]
Oberman is admitted to, has filed appeals in, and argued before all of the Tennessee appellate courts.[4] In the federal branch, he has been admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee (1980), the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (1981), the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (1983), and the Supreme Court of the United States (1985).[4]
Oberman served on the Board of Directors of Project First Offender, a probation program involving the rehabilitation of first offenders of certain criminal laws, from 1981–86, and as its president from 1983-86.[4] Oberman served on the Board of Regents of the National College for DUI Defense from 1999 until 2011, served as its Dean from 2009 until 2010, and as Dean Emeritus from 2010 until 2011. He has also been designated a "Fellow" by this organization.[1] He served on the Board of Directors of the Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee from 1993 until 2000, and served as its President from 1998 until 2000. Oberman served on the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers from 1983 until 1989, and as co-chair of the Knoxville Bar Association Judicial Committee from 1997 until 2001.[4] Oberman has served as either Chair or Co-Chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' DUI Committee every year since 1995.[5]
Among his appellate victories, Oberman's most recent case before the Tennessee Supreme Court stands out. In that 2008 DUI case, State of Tennessee v. Roy Anthony Ferrante,[6] the defendant's DUI case was dismissed when Oberman's investigation and legal argument convinced the trial court that the case had not been properly initiated. Justice Cornelia A. Clark wrote the opinion for the Supreme Court, which sided unanimously with Oberman's defense. Oberman had provided proof to the Court that the person signing the arrest warrant had not been trained sufficiently to make the necessary legal determination before signing an arrest warrant, thereby invalidating the arrest. The Court also ruled that the defendant's mere appearance before the court did not validate an otherwise invalid arrest warrant, overruling a previous decision of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.[6]
An award-winning adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law since 1993,[7] Oberman has lectured at over 100 seminars in 22 different states, Canada and the United Kingdom. Oberman has appeared on numerous local and national radio and television shows, sharing his expertise on DUI and various legal issues, including commentary on the O.J. Simpson Trial.[4]
Oberman is ranked "AV" ("very high to pre-eminent in legal ability and ethics") by the Martindale-Hubbell International Law Directory.[8] He has been named each year as one of the Best 150 Lawyers in the state by Business Tennessee Magazine since the inception of its survey in 2004.[9] Oberman has been named one of the “Best Lawyers in America” by the publication of the same name,[10] and his firm has been named one of the "Best Law Firms" by U.S. News & World Report.[11] Oberman has also been named a “Top 100 Trial Lawyer” by the American Trial Lawyers Association,[12] and a "Super Lawyer" by Mid-South Super Lawyers Magazine.[13]
The University of Tennessee College of Law has awarded Oberman the Forrest W. Lacey Award for Outstanding Faculty Contribution (1993-94 term) and the Bernstein-Ritchie Award for Extraordinary Service (2004). In 2001, Oberman was named the College's Outstanding Adjunct Professor.[14]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration appointed Oberman to participate in their 2005 meeting, Alcohol Impaired Drivers: Injured, Uncharged and Untreated, which was tasked with developing protocol to assist drunk drivers who are injured in an accident, treated for their injuries, but are neither charged with DUI nor treated for associated alcohol problems.[4] In 2006, Oberman was appointed vice-chairman of the Tennessee Governor's Task Force on DUI Laws in Tennessee.[15]