About Aaron R.
Aaron R. Bortel has practiced law in California since the early 1990s. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Society from the University of California, Santa Barbara after attending from 1984 to 1988. He then completed his legal studies at Golden Gate University School of Law, receiving his J.D. in 1992.
Straight out of law school he launched his own practice. In 1992 he opened the Law Offices of Aaron R Bortel and has remained its principal since. That early decision put him in courtrooms and in front of juries across the region. He handles matters at the trial level and has built a practice around criminal defense, with a notable volume of DUI-related cases.
Bortel’s work intersects regularly with scientific and technical issues that arise in DUI prosecutions. He completed a Certificate of Completion in Mastering Scientific Evidence in DUI through the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and the National College for DUI Defense. He has been a member of the National College for DUI Defense since 2003, and he maintains memberships in several professional groups that concentrate on criminal and DUI defense practice.
His professional affiliations trace back to the start of his career. He joined the State Bar of California in 1992 and became a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco in 1993. He has been active in state and national defense organizations, including the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (since 1996), California Lawyers for Criminal Justice (since 1995), and the California DUI Lawyers Association (since 1998). He has also served on boards. Since 2010 he has been on the board of DTLLL, and he has a long record of civic involvement on food bank boards in Marin and San Francisco, including service to the Marin Community Food Bank beginning in 2003.
Colleagues and clients see his practice as grounded in courtroom work and technical preparation. He prepares for trials, examines scientific reports, and challenges evidence when appropriate. He has kept his practice small and direct by staying at the firm he started. He handles criminal and DUI matters for clients in California and continues to manage cases at the Law Offices of Aaron R Bortel, where his practice centers on DUI and criminal defense matters.
