Michelle Behan

Owner and President

Michelle Behan is an Honorably Discharged Veteran from the United States Navy, where she served nearly ten years as a Cryptologist. After separating from the Navy, Ms. Behan spent five years as a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in both South Dakota and Arizona, where she investigated violent crimes on the Indian reservations, crimes against children, and national security crimes. Ms. Behan received national recognition from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) for her work in a two-year international parental kidnapping case that involved the United States Marshals, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and multiple divisions of the FBI. Ms. Behan also received recognition from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota for her work on many interstate crimes involving the sexual exploitation of minors.

Ms. Behan is a 2013 graduate of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. While in law school, Ms. Behan was an active participant in the Veteran’s Advocacy Clinic, where she acted as defense counsel for indigent Veterans charged with criminal misdemeanors. Ms. Behan’s zealous advocacy on behalf of Veterans led to her selection by the Law School Faculty to present an amicus curiae brief (on behalf of the defendant) to the Federal Court of Appeals for the U.S. Armed Forces, the highest military court in the country. Ms. Behan also received the prestigious Darrow K. Soll Award, which is given to the graduating student who most exhibits the tenacity and persistence required in the area of criminal defense.

Following graduation, Ms. Behan worked as an Assistant Public Defender at the Tucson City Public Defender’s Office. She has tried several cases to juries, and argued numerous evidentiary and legal hearings involving a variety of different legal issues. For her efforts, Ms. Behan was awarded the 2015 Tucson Women’s Commission Rising Star Award. In 2015, Ms. Behan joined the Law Office of Nesci & St. Louis, where she was an associate attorney for more than two years. During that time, Ms. Behan successfully argued many Constitutional challenges in DUI cases, resulting in some or all of the evidence against her clients being suppressed. Ms. Behan was also successful in defeating multiple appellate challenges by the State of Arizona in an attempt to overturn some of those victories.

In 2017, Ms. Behan founded the law firm of The Behan Law Group, P.L.L.C., where she is the owner and president. Since that time, she has amassed an impressive string of courtroom victories. Most recently, since 2020, she has won 8 of the 9 jury trials she was in. Nicknamed “The Beast” by one jury, Ms. Behan is well-known throughout the legal community as a tough litigator and a force of nature in the courtroom.

In 2021, Ms. Behan became the fourth woman in the United States of America to become Board Certified in DUI Defense (and the only woman in Arizona). She is a member of the National College for DUI Defense, where she serves as the State Delegate for Arizona, as well as a frequent speaker and faculty member. She is also a member of the DWI Committee for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, an associate member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), for whom she has presented twice. Ms. Behan serves as the co-chair for the NCDD Impaired Driving Task Force and the Amicus Curiae Task Force.

Ms. Behan’s dedication to the defense of those charged with DUI and other crimes is recognized by lawyers everywhere. Ms. Behan is the lawyer that other lawyers call when they have a DUI question. Most recently, after viewing one of her jury trials, a seasoned lawyer with 37 years of trial experience stated that her closing argument was, “the best I have ever seen in any DUI trial.” Even prosecutors have claimed that they would, “hire her myself.”

Education:

• B.S., Park University, Parkville, MO, Summa Cum Laude, 2000
• M.S., City University, Renton, WA, 2002
• J.D., University of Arizona, 2013

Admissions:

• Arizona Supreme Court, 2013
• U.S. District Court, 2015
• U.S. Supreme Court, 2016

Published Decisions:

• State v. Chopra, 241 Ariz. 353, 387 P.3d 1282 (App. Div. 2, 2016)
• State v. Valenzuela, 239 Ariz. 299, 371 P.3d 627 (2016) (Amicus Curiae for NCDD)