HOUSTON – July 30, 2013 – Trichter & LeGrand, PC, a leading Houston criminal defense firm, announced today that J. Gary Trichter, DWI Specialist by the National College for DUI Defense, founder and Cowboy Lawyer and prominent Houston DWI Attorney, has been honored with the Erwin-Taylor Award by the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD) at their annual summer session held at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Thursday, July 25th.

“It’s a real honor to be recognized by the National College for DUI Defense,” Trichter said. “I’m happy to have had a hand in improving the quality of DWI representation in both Houston and throughout Texas.”

The Erwin-Taylor Award is a national recognition for exceptional lawyers who have dedicated their lives to protecting constitutional rights of citizens and upgrading the level of professionalism for all attorneys. 

Originally called the Richard E. Erwin Lifetime Achievement Award, it was named after Richard E. Erwin, the author of the first text on defending DUIs.

Mr. Erwin also published the first handbook on how to defend a DUI case in 1963. 

A public defender for most of his career, he had to create tools and strategies for fighting DUI cases. 

In 2004, the name changed to the Erwin-Taylor award to also honor Larry Taylor, who authored several important DUI manuals to help train the DUI practitioner.

Gary was the first DWI Specialist in the State of Texas. 

He is the founding member of the NCDD and has served the longest tenure on the Board of Regents of the NCDD and was Dean of the College from 2002 – 2003. 

He has been practicing law in the state of Texas since 1980 and served as president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (TCDLA) from June 2011 through June 2012. 

Gary is past chairman of the DWI committees for the (TCDLA) and for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.