Steve Oberman’s Resume

STEVEN OBERMAN
Attorney at Law
550 Main Street, Suite 730
Knoxville, Tennessee 37902
Phone: (865) 249-7200
Fax: (865) 540-1696
Website: www.tndui.com
E-mail: oberman@tndui.com

Current through August 17, 2023

CURRICULUM VITAE

LEGAL EDUCATION & SPECIALTY CERTIFICATION

  • UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE COLLEGE OF LAW, Knoxville, Tennessee
    Doctor of Jurisprudence, 1980
  • Board Certified as a Specialist in DUI Defense Law by the National College for DUI Defense, 1999

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

  • AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Auburn, Alabama
    Bachelor of Arts, 1977

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • U. S. Supreme Court (1985)
  • Tennessee Supreme Court (1980)
  • Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals (1980)
  • Tennessee Court of Appeals (1980)
  • U. S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee (1980)
  • U. S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (1981)
  • U. S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (1983)

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

  • American Association for Justice (1980 – Present)
  • Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, Incorporated; Board of Directors
    (1993 – 2000); Vice President (1994 – 1998); President (1998 – 2000)
  • Knoxville Bar Association (1980 – 2006); Co-Chair Judicial Committee (1997 – 2001)
  • National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (1982 – Present); Chair or Co-Chair, DUI Committee (1995 – Present)
  • National College for DUI Defense, Inc.; Fellow (2010-Present); Dean (2009-10); Board of Regents (1999 – 2011); Founding Member
  • Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (1980 – 2006); Board of Directors (1983 – 1989)

LEGAL RELATED EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

  • 2010 – Present
    Oberman & Rice
    Trial Lawyers
    Knoxville, Tennessee
  • 2008 – 2010
    The Oberman Law Firm
    Trial Lawyers
    Knoxville, Tennessee
  • 1986 – 2008
    Daniel & Oberman
    An Association of Trial Attorneys
    Knoxville, Tennessee
  • 1996 – Present
    Adjunct Professor
    University of Tennessee College of Law
    Knoxville, Tennessee
  • 1993 – 1995
    Adjunct Associate Professor
    University of Tennessee College of Law
    Knoxville, Tennessee
  • 1983 – 1985
    Daniel, Claiborne, Oberman & Buuck
    Attorneys at Law
    Knoxville, Tennessee
  • 1981 – 1983
    Daniel, Claiborne & Lewallen
    Attorneys at Law
    Knoxville, Tennessee
  • 1980 – 1981
    Daniel, Duncan & Claiborne
    Attorneys at Law
    Knoxville, Tennessee

BOOKS

  • Oberman, Steven, DUI: The Crime and Consequences in Tennessee.  New
    edition published annually since 2002 by Thomson Reuters (formerly West Publishing).
  • Oberman, Steven, DUI: The Crime and Consequences in Tennessee, copyrighted
    1991 by The Harrison Publishing Company.  Supplemented annually through
    1996; Second Edition, 1997, supplemented annually through 2001.
  • Taylor, Lawrence and Oberman, Steven, Drunk Driving Defense, Fifth through Ninth Editions, supplemented annually since 2003, published by Wolters Kluwer (Aspen) Publishers, Inc. (cited by the United States Supreme Court in multiple cases)
  • Oberman, Steven and Compher-Rice, Sara, Contributing Authors, Vehicular Homicide by Intoxication: Preparation, Strategy and the Law, in Defending DUI Vehicular Homicide Cases, 2012 Edition, pp. 7-30 (Thomson Reuters/Aspatore).

OTHER PUBLICATIONS (in reverse chronological order)

  • Oberman, Steven, and Reiff, Robert S., The Modified Romberg Balance Test and Medical Journals, The Champion (published by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), June 2023
  • Oberman, Steven, The Ethical Use of Technology: Protecting You and Your Clients, The Champion (published by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), April 2019 (featured cover article)
  • Oberman, Steven, Beware Driving Under the Influence of Prescribed Medication, Greater Knoxville Business Journal (published by the Knoxville News Sentinel), October 2016
  • Oberman, Steven, Blood or Breath in Birchfield: The Supreme Court Draws a Critical Distinction, The Champion (published by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), July 2016
  • Murphy, Doug and Oberman, Steven, Defending Boating While Intoxicated Cases, The Champion (published by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), July 2015
  • Compher-Rice, Sara and Oberman, Steven, Investigating the DUI Case: Things to Do, Places to Go, People to See, The Champion (published by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), March 2009
  • Compher-Rice, Sara and Oberman, Steven, Have You Told Your DUI Client . . . ?, Dicta (published by the Knoxville Bar Association), April 2008
  • Oberman, Steven and Compher-Rice, Sara, The Standardized Field Sobriety Test
    Validation Myth, The Champion (published by the National Association of
    Criminal Defense Lawyers), June 2006
  • Hlastala, Michael P., Ph.D., Polissar, Nayak, Ph.D., and Oberman, Steven,
    Statistical Evaluation of Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, Journal of Forensic
    Sciences, May 2005
  • Kapsack, Bruce and Oberman, Steven, Crawford v. Washington: [The] DUI
    Defense Practitioner’s Perspective, The Champion (published by the National
    Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), September/October 2004.
  • Oberman, Steven, Cross-Examination of the State’s Blood Test Expert, The
    Champion (published by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers),
    December 2001
  • Oberman, Steven, Drunk or Drowsy? How Fatigue Can Be Mistaken for
    Intoxication, The Champion (published by the National Association of Criminal
    Defense Lawyers), January/February 2001
  • Oberman, Steven and Bell James A. H., Effective Use of Police Videos in DUI
    Defense, The Champion (published by the National Association of Criminal
    Defense Lawyers), November 1999
  • Oberman, Steven and Cooper, Jonathan D., Attacking the Disclosure and Analysis
    of Hospital Blood-Alcohol Test Results, The Champion (published by the
    National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), April 1997
  • Oberman, Steven and Kellogg, Kimberly, DUI as a Federal Crime, The Champion (published by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), January/February 1996
  • Oberman, Steven and Cooper, Jonathan D., Evading Roadblocks on the
    Prosecution Highway (Part One), The Champion (published by the National
    Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), December 1994
  • Oberman, Steven and Bell, James A. H., D.W.I.: Defend With Ingenuity, a
    periodic series published by the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense
    Lawyers 1985 – 1987
  • Oberman, Steven, “Birmingham Drug Survey,” Social Studies: The Humanizing Process, eds. M. Kleg and J. Litcher (Winterhaven, Florida Council for the Social Studies, 1972) pp. 159-168

HONORS, AWARDS & SPECIAL RECOGNITION

  • Visiting Adjunct Professor teaching American Criminal Law and American Trial Advocacy at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Law, the largest university in Slovenia (in Slovenia from February – June 2024)
  • Visiting Adjunct Professor teaching American Criminal Law and American Trial Advocacy at Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law, the oldest and largest university in Hungary (in Budapest from February – June 2023)
  • Fulbright Scholar Grant Recipient from the Institute of International Education in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State to teach as a Visiting Adjunct Professor at the University of Latvia Faculty of Law (February – June 2019)
  • Named to “Best Lawyers in Knoxville” by the Knoxville News Sentinel and the Greater Knoxville Business Journal (Every year since its inception in 2009)
  • Named to the Best Lawyers List (Every year since its inception in 2008)
  • Awarded “Lawyer of the Year” in the field of Criminal Defense in Knoxville, TN by Best Lawyers for 2013, 2018, and 2020
  • Awarded “Lawyer of the Year” in the field of DUI Defense in Knoxville, TN by Best Lawyers for 2022, and 2024
  • Named to the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” by The National Trial Lawyers
  • Named as a “Super Lawyer” in Mid-South Super Lawyers Magazine (Every year since its inception in 2006)
  • Named as a “Top Attorney” by the Knoxville City View Magazine in the area of DUI Defense (Every year that the specialty area has been included since its inception in 2006)
  • Albert Nelson Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award (2017)
  • Erwin-Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by National College for DUI Defense, Inc. (2014). See https://www.ncdd.com/about-the-ncdd/erwin-taylor-award.
  • Kentucky Colonel, Presented by Governor Steven Beshear (2011)
  • Fellow, National College for DUI Defense, Inc. (2011 – Present)
  • Arkansas Traveler, Presented by Governor Mike Beebe (2008)
  • National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, The President’s Legal Education Achievement Award, in recognition of exceptional achievement in CLE programming and for outstanding contributions to the professionalism and integrity of the criminal defense bar (2008)
  • Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education & Specialization, Award for Leadership in Attorney Certification (2006)
  • First attorney in State of Tennessee to become certified as a DUI Defense Specialist by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education & Specialization (2006)
  • Appointment to Governor Phil Bredesen’s Task Force on DUI Laws in Tennessee, Selected as Committee Vice-Chair (2006)
  • Participant (invitation only) in meeting sponsored by Center for Disease Control/National
  • Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Alcohol Impaired Drivers: Injured, Uncharged and Untreated (2005)
  • The Bernstein-Ritchie Award for Extraordinary Service to the University of Tennessee College of Law Legal Clinic (2004)
  • University of Tennessee College of Law Outstanding Adjunct Professor (2002)
  • American Bar Association/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Panel Member of the Judicial Issues Group Development Meeting regarding Driving Under the Influence of Drugs Per Se Legislation (2001)
  • Member of the Board of Regents, National College for DUI Defense, Inc. (1999 – 2011)
  • Advisory Board Member to The Champion, The Official Publication for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (1999 – Present)
  • Appointee to the Administrative Office of the Tennessee Supreme Court Committee to Educate the Tennessee Judiciary about DUI Laws (1998)
  • Graduate of The National Judicial College, Reno, Nevada, DUI/Traffic Safety Faculty Development Workshop developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (1998)
  • DUI Committee Chair or Co-Chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (1995 – Present)
  • Moot Court Board Special Service Award for Outstanding Contributions to the University of Tennessee College of Law Advocacy Program (1995 – 1996)
  • Forrest W. Lacey Award for Outstanding Faculty Contribution to the University of Tennessee College of Law Moot Court Program (1993 – 1994)
  • Coach, University of Tennessee College of Law National Trial Team (1991 – 1996)
  • Special Judge, General Sessions Court of Knox County, Tennessee, Criminal Division (1987 – 2009, 2017)
  • Colonel Aide de Camp, Tennessee Governor’s Staff, presented by Governor Lamar Alexander (1983)
  • Marquis Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, Who’s Who in the World, and Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders in America

FEATURED SPEAKER FOR LECTURES AND SEMINARS (in alphabetical order by organization)

  • Over 200 presentations at legal conferences in 30 states, the District of Columbia and seven foreign countries.  Host organizations include the American Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, The National College for DUI Defense, various agencies of the United States Federal Government, The Police Academy of the Czech Republic and many state bar associations.  A list of all presentations is available upon request.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

  • Knoxville Racquet Club; Board of Directors (1991 – 1993), President (1992 – 1993)
  • Arnstein Jewish Community Center; Board of Directors (1987 – 1991), President (1990)
  • Knoxville Legal Aid Society; Board of Directors (1986 – 1988)
  • Project First Offender (A probation program involving the rehabilitation of first offenders
    of certain criminal laws); Board of Directors (1981 – 1986), President (1983 – 1986)

Featured Posts

bail for a felony
June 11, 2024

Bail for a Felony Criminal Offense Just Became More Restrictive

Being arrested for any criminal offense is never a positive experience.  In Tennessee, two main genres of criminal offenses exist.  The first, is a Misdemeanor offense.  These offenses are typically considered less serious offenses (with some serious exceptions, of course).  […]

Read More
underage drinking
May 11, 2024

Underage Consumption of Alcohol in Tennessee is more of a headache than you think.

As most folks should know, if you are under the age of 21 you are not allowed to consume alcohol in Tennessee (and all other states in the U.S.).  In fact, an underage person who has been drinking or is […]

Read More
April 12, 2024

New DUI Law Alert–Work Release Requirement Update

The Tennessee Legislature passed several new laws that became effective on January 1, 2024.  One DUI related law involves the Tennessee Work Release Program.  Work release is a form of probation that may be used, in certain circumstances, after a person has […]

Read More

Contact

Office

Oberman & Rice
550 Main Street
Suite 730
Knoxville, TN 37902

Phone Number
(865) 249-7200
(865) 540-1696 (fax)

GPS Coordinates
Long: 35.970504
Lat: -83.914776

contact us today for a free consultation

We reply to non-urgent after-hours requests for consultation within 24 hours. For after-hour emergencies, please call us at (865) 249-7200.

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